help

Who Built the Receivers Used on the Green Bank Telescope and What Technology Do Their Detectors Use?

-- | July 28, 2016

Question: What is the primary company that built the transmitters and receivers in the Green Bank Telescope. Is the receiver design Supercooled Superheterodyne or does it use Supercooled FPGAs. — Adam

Answer: NRAO builds most of the receivers (there are no transmitters) used on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The rest of the GBT receivers are built by university groups. All of the GBT receivers use either superheterodyne, high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT), or Monolithic Millimeter-wave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technologies which operate at very low temperatures (less than 20 K).

Jeff Mangum

Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Linkedin

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
	Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.
	The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..."
	AUI collaborates with the scientific community and research sponsors to plan, build, and operate cutting-edge facilities. We cultivate excellence, deliver value, enhance education, and engage the public.