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The single pixel heterodyne receivers

Four dual polarization SIS receivers are available at the telescope for the upcoming observing season. They are designated according to the dewar in which they are housed (A, B, C, or D), followed by the center frequency (in GHz) of their tuning range. Their main characteristics are summarised in Tab. 1. All receivers are linearly polarized with the E-vectors, before rotation in the Martin-Puplett interferometers, either horizontal or vertical in the Nasmyth cabin. Up to four of these eight receivers can be combined for simultaneous observations in the four ways depicted in Tab. 1. Note that they cannot be combined with HERA nor with the bolometers. Also listed are typical system temperatures which apply to normal summer weather (4mm of water) at the center of the tuning range and at 45$^\circ $ elevation. All receivers are tuned by the operators from the control room. Experience shows that it normally takes not more than 15 min to tune four such receivers.

Table 1: Heterodyne receivers available for the next summer observing season. Performance figures are based on recent measurements at the telescope. $T^{\ast }_{sys}$ is the SSB system temperature in the $T^\ast _A$ scale at the nominal center of the tuning range, assuming average summer conditions (4mm pwv) and 45$^\circ $ elevation. $g_i$ is the rejection factor of the image side band. $\nu _{IF}$ and $\Delta \nu _{IF}$ are the IF center frequency and width. Note that the 8 standard receivers can be combined in 4 different ways.
receiver polari- combinations tuning range $T_{Rx}$(SSB) $g_i$ $\nu _{IF}$ $\Delta \nu _{IF}$ $T^{\ast }_{sys}$ remark
  zation 1 2 3 4 GHz K dB GHz GHz K  
A100 V 1   3   80 - 115.5 60 - 80 $>20$ 1.5 0.5 120  
B100 H 1     4 81 - 115.5 60 - 80 $>20$ 1.5 0.5 120 1
C150 V   2   4 129 - 183 70 - 125 15 - 25 4.0 1.0 200  
D150 H   2 3   129 - 183 80 - 125 8 - 17 4.0 1.0 200  
A230 V 1   3   197 - 266 85 - 150 12 - 17 4.0 1.0 450 2
B230 H 1     4 197 - 266 95 - 160 12 - 17 4.0 1.0 450 2
C270 V   2   4 241 - 281 125 - 250 10 - 20 4.0 1.0 1000 3
D270 H   2 3   241 - 281 150 - 250 9 - 13 4.0 1.0 1000 3
HERA H/V         210 - 276 110 - 380 $\sim 10$ 4.0 1.0 400 2, 4
1: tuning range extended to $\geq 72$ GHz under special conditions (see text)
2: noise increasing with frequency
3: performance at $\nu<275$ GHz; noisier above 275 GHz.
4: the V-array of HERA has slighly higher noise which may vary across the IF band.



Subsections
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Next: Extended tuning range: 72 Up: Technical Information about the Previous: HERA
Clemens Thum 2006-02-01