Recent Centimetre Band Receiver Development at CSIRO Australia

We present three recent receiver designs and the challenges in their development: a phased array feed (PAF), a multibeam system for FAST and an “ultra-wideband” feed for the Parkes telescope. A significant driver in the development of these receivers is the radio astronomy focus on surveys. In general terms Survey Speed = Sensitivty
²
× Bandwidth × Field of View. In the area of sensitivity, there are diminishing returns for LNA development in the centimetre band but the demand for wider bandwidths and changing transistor and foundry availability requires ongoing attention. Our recent receivers have increased the bandwidths over previous designs. The signal processing is also moving toward digitizing and recording the entire bandwidth available from the feeds. The multibeam and PAF receivers maximize the utilization of the reflector field of view.