Upgrade of Automatic Beam Switching (ABS) at Jicamarca Radio Observatory

Abstract

Particular beam orientations are required for each experiment to study different atmospheric phenomena at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO), For an antenna array, this change can be done manually or remotely. JRO has had a beam steering system since 2005 for the remote operation. The remote operation is achieved using IP protocols and addresses associated with each antenna module and a web interface is used for the operation and supervision from the main building. The principle of the RF stage of the system is the phase shift due to change in the coaxial cable length between the source and the antennas in each antenna module. This poster summarizes the requirements of the system upgrade as well as the characteristics of the new electronic, mechanical, RF and interface design for each element of the automatic beam system used at JRO.