Final preparations for the LBA build week

Work has been in full swing at Chilbolton, preparing for the LBA build week next week. The grids and ground sheets have now been transported from their initial storage position near the main Chilbolton Observatory building over to the edge of the LBA field (about 1/2 mile away), ready for installation.

It is certainly a long time since they first arrived on the back of a Dutch lorry, all the way back in November 2009. In fact, their arrival was announced in one of the very first posts here.

And here is some never before seen footage taken of the arrival back in November, when some of us went to Chilbolton to witness the arrival. In the movie you'll see/hear Bob Nichol, myself (Karen Masters) and Owain Davies (formerly of STFC) discussing what all the bits are, Owain and Derek McKay checking all the expected parts have arrived, and then Owain, Bob and Alejo Martinez-Sansigre breaking the seal on the RF container to get a first look inside.


And finally some pictures showing how they have just been moved out to the LBA field.

The grids were first chained up by Mark Andrews (pictured) and his crew, ready to be lifted.


Then they are carefully driven across the field using the heavy digger (driven by John Murray). There were two loads of grids, each load weighs just over 1 ton.


After moving all the grids, the ground sheets are then moved over.


Two piles of grids and one pallet-load of ground sheets. All ready on the side of the LBA field in preparation for their installation.

Owain's Last LOFAR Chilbolton Status Update

Owain Davies (the STFC LOFAR Station Manager at Chilbolton) is leaving STFC at the end of December for a position in the Earth Stations Engineering Group within Inmarsat. In his last status report about LOFAR (edited version below, which is actually a combination of his Dec 7th and Nov 23rd reports found in full for the LOFAR-UK scientists on the LOFAR-UK Wiki) he says:

"It is with regret that I bid farewell to LOFAR at this stage, particularly as it was moving in to the phase that I was most looking forward to. Chilbolton LOFAR was the first project where STFC entrusted me with the role of project manager and the skills and experiences I have gained during this time have been of great benefit to my other areas of work at Chilbolton over this past year."

Owain has handed over his role to Mike Willis from STFC/RAL (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory). Mike has managed various radio wave propagation contracts from Ofcom and is also an active participant in the ITU (International Telecommunication Union). Prior to taking the role of LOFAR Station Manager, Mike had been investigating Recognised Spectrum Access (RSA) status for the Chilbolton site. Derek McKay, the SEPnet Commissioning Engineer, will also continue to shadow the LOFAR Station manager as well as working on SEPnet activities.

LOFAR Parts

Two deliveries of the LOFAR kit have been accepted at the Chilbolton Observatory. In the car park there is now the LOFAR container, the LBA (low band antenna) ground planes and the weed suppressant foils. Inside the Chilbolton main building is the electronic equipment which will go inside the container, the LBA antennae, and the LBA and HBA (high band antenna) cables.

HBA Tiles: Delivery of these parts are tricky to organise, as they need to be stored carefully and they are quite large. ASTRON are keen to deliver some of the tiles over the winter, with the rest warehoused in the Netherlands. STFC/Chilbolton are keen to accept the tiles and possible storage solutions are being investigated.

In the below picture from the main LOFAR website, you can see HBAs in the foreground (and LBAs in the background) - obviously very different designs for the two wavenlength ranges for LOFAR.

Site Preparation

The STFC design specification for the Chilbolton LOFAR site is complete, and it is with the contractors for pricing and scheduling. Expect news on this in the next status update.

Chilbolton LOFAR Launch Event

The date of Thursday 1 July 2010 has been set for the Chilbolton LOFAR Launch Event, and while the exact details are still to be decided, the Intech Science Centre and Planetarium has been booked for the event, and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, will open the Chilbolton LOFAR Station.

Intech is a hands-on interactive science and technology centre, administered by the educational charity, The Hampshire Technology Centre Trust Ltd, with the specific purpose of promoting the knowledge and understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It is located 20 minutes drive from Chilbolton and has good links to the M3 and Winchester train station. A Holiday Inn is being built next door to Intech and will be open in March 2010. The Intech planetarium will seat 170 and offers an excellent venue to enthuse an audience in the work that LOFAR-UK will do.

Current Projected Timeline

LBA + LOFAR container: Early spring 2010

Network Connection: 4 month lead time, LOFAR-UK to decide when order is placed

HBA: Spring 2010

Owain ends:
"LOFAR was the most challenging, yet rewarding project I have worked on during my 8 years at the Chilbolton Observatory. I wish you all well and the Chilbolton LOFAR Station every success. "

Thanks Owain. We all wish you well at Inmarsat too.

Visit to Chilbolton, Sunday Nov 15

Last Sunday I dragged the family up to Chilbolton to see the first delivered parts, the marked out station location and test pits, all dug in preparation for construction early in the new year. After five years of UK effort, and a decade of personal LOFAR involvement (so far!) it was great to see the project getting to this stage. Owain Davies kindly opened up the site for us in the middle of his weekend.

On the left you can see a small Fender oblivious to the high technology which are the LBA ground planes in the background...





Owain also drove us around the station site in the STFC landrover, and pointed out to us how the test pits reveal the striking change from soil to chalk only 20 cm below the surface.

There are ideas about shaping this chalk layer to aid with drain-off of water from the site.

Anyway, although there are still major decisions to be taken about things like the mode and route of our data links to The Netherlands, this first step in the construction of the Chilbolton station is a very significant one for LOFAR-UK.

Chilbolton LOFAR Status Report 26 October 2009

As activities ramp up at Chilbolton in the coming months, Owain Davies will be issuing regular status reports to the astronomers involved in LOFAR-UK. The full report can be viewed by those astronomers in the restricted section of the LOFAR-UK Wiki. With Owain's help I will be posting an edited version of the report on the blog.

Note that a LOFAR-UK glossary of terms used in these postings is planned.

LOFAR Kit Delivery

The first deliveries of the kit to build the LOFAR radio telescope at Chilbolton will take place in November. The two separate deliveries from the Netherlands will consist of the LOFAR container, LBA (low band antenna) ground planes and weed suppressant foils, and also the electronics and cables for the HBA/LBA (high band and low band antennas).

A LOFAR Container:


A low-band antenna (LBA):


These first two deliveries will allow the LOFAR container to have its electronics installed and the LBA installed as soon as the site is ready.

The LOFAR container will be dropped off in the car park of the Chilbolton Observatory along with the ground planes and foils. The electronic equipment and cables will be stored inside the main building.

Site Preparation

Chilbolton will soon be ready to select a contractor to do the site preparation for LOFAR. The works will consist of leveling the two areas for the low band and high band antennas, making a concrete foundation for the LOFAR container, digging trenches for the cables, and also routing electrical and other services to the site.

Network Connection

The details of the high speed internet connection to the Netherlands are still being worked out. One possible route goes via Southampton and then London, however if use of the computing and storage facilities at RAL is considered, then this may not be the most cost effective way to connect both the Netherlands and RAL to Chilbolton. So other routings are being considered.

Current Projected Timeline

Winter 2010

• completion of low band antennas and LOFAR container installation

Spring 2010

• network connection to the Netherlands finished
  
• completion of construction of high band antennas (good weather is required for this part of the installation)