HartRAO Home > C-BASS > C-BASS Hartebeesthoek
The C-Band All Sky Survey (C-BASS), will map the whole sky in temperature and polarization at 5GHz. The primary aim of C-BASS will be to allow accurate subtraction of the Galactic synchrotron polarization from the data produced by CMB polarization experiments.
This is a joint project of the University of Manchester, the University of Oxford and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK, the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the USA, and Rhodes University and the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) in South Africa.
Two antennae have been obtained for the project in South Africa, donated by the South African telecommunications company Telkom. One of these has been relocated to the HartRAO Hartebeesthoek site from the Telkom site 5km away. The second is intended for operational use at the Klerefontein base near the Karoo Array Telescope site.
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The future Hartebeesthoek C-BASS development antenna arrives from the Telkom site, 2007 Feb 14.
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The pedestal is raised by crane at Hartebeesthoek 2007 Feb 14.
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The antenna drive mount is lifted onto the pedestal at Hartebeesthoek 2007 Feb 14.
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The antenna is hoisted onto the drive mount at Hartebeesthoek 2007 Feb 14.
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Projected photogrammetry targets on the surface of the antenna, 2008 April 7. Photogrammetry is used to measure the shape of the surface.
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Setting physical targets on the C-BASS antenna for photogrammetry to measure the shape of the main surface and subreflector, 2008 May 13.
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The C-BASS antenna with photogrammetry targets, 2008 May 13.
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Fire on the hill west of HartRAO, 2009 August 29.
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The Hartebeesthoek C-BASS development antenna with targets for photogrammetry to measure the shape of the surface, 2008 November 03.
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An important milestone was reached with the Hartebeesthoek antenna when it was driven under computer control for the first time by Charles Copley, on 2008 November 03.
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To test the drive system in operational use and verify the optical performance, the 12GHz receiver previously fitted to XDM was equipped with a rectangular feed horn and mounted on C-BASS. First light was achieved on 2009 August 12. Here Charles Copley is seen on August 20 establishing the correct focus position for the feed, using the 12GHz transmission from the DSTV satellite as a strong signal source.
For more information about C-BASS see the Oxford Experimental Radio/mm Cosmology webpage.
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