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AtwoelementradiointerferometerforobservationsofSunat191.4 MHz UsermanualVersion3

Introduction: InternationalHeliophysicalYear(IHY)isanUnited Nationsprogramspreadovertheyears2007and2008.Thethrustarea is to study the Sun, Earth's magnetosphere and the interplanetary mediumasacoupledsystem.OneofthemajorcomponentsofIHYisthe PublicOutreachEducationProgramthroughwhichtheknowledgeonHelio sphericPhysicswouldbedisseminatedtothegeneralpublicandmore importantly, toinspirethenext generationof space scientistswho arestillinschoolsanduniversities.Inthisconnection,theIndian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore has initiated several activities throughits PublicOutreach(PO)program.Oneamongthem is to provide handson observing experience in radio astronomy to interestedandmotivatedscienceandengineeringgraduatestudentsin the country by providing necessary antenna and receiver system to theirinstitutions.Theabovesetupdevelopedbytheradioastronomy group of IIA can be used to observe radio emission from the solar coronaat191.4MHz. Contentsofthe'kit': 1. LogperiodicAntenna 2nos. 2. RG8Ucoaxialcable(50mlength) 4nos. st 3. 1 stageAmplifier+highpassfilter 2nos. nd 4. 2 stagestageAmplifier 2nos. 5. Analogreceiver 1no. 6. RF(LC)Filter191.44MHz2nos 7. IFFilter10.7MHz30KHz2nos 8. Digitalreceiver 1no. 9. Powersupply 1nos. 10.IHYDataacquisitionCD 1nos.

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BLOCKDIAGRAMOFIHYSYSTEM

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Theradio'kit':

TheobservingsetupconsistsoftwoLogperiodicantennastuned toreceiveradiofrequency(RF)signalat191.4MHz.Eachantenna has an independent analog receiver chain for processing the incident RF signal and subsequent down conversion to the intermediatefrequency(IF)usingthesuperheterodyneprinciple. Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the antenna and receiver system.TheRFsignalincidentoneachantennagoesthroughthe following series ofoperations before it istransmittedto the receiverbuilding,ThefilteringofterrestrialAMbroadcastand otherspuriousinterferencesignalsprevalentatlowfrequencies usingahighpassfilterwithcutoffat50MHz.Theseotherwise might saturate the amplifier(s) in the receiver chain,1 st stage amplificationbyabout30dBgaininacommercialbroadband(0.5 500MHz)amplifier,transmissionofthefiltered,amplifiedRF signaloveradistanceofabout50mviaRG8Ucoaxialcable2nd stage amplification by about 30 dB gain, identical to the 1st stage,Thentransmissionofthefiltered,amplifiedRFsignalto the receiver room via RG8U coaxial cable over a distance of about50m.Atotallengthof100mRFcableisusedforeach antennasincethishelpstoplacethetwoantennaswellspaced apart and obtain interference fringes with good contrast. The signalattenuationinthecableisabout12dBat191.4MHz. Inthereceiverroom,theRFsignalfromeachantennaisfirst passedthroughabandpassfilterofcenterfrequency(fc)=191.4 MHz and bandwidth (f)=6MHz, to minimize the contribution from interferingsignalsatotherfrequencies.Theinsertionlossin the filter is about 9 dB at 191.4MHz. The filtered signal is giventoRFamplifier,amplifiergainabout30dBgain.Thenmixed with a local oscillator (LO) signal of frequency 180.7MHz for downconversionoftheRFsignalfromtheantennato10.7MHz(IF signal).The output of the mixer is passed through a Band pass filter fc= 10.7 MHz with the bandwidth f = 1 MHz to further minimize the contribution from spurious signals and then amplifiedbyabout30dBgainFinallyamplifiedsignalisgivento Quadrature,output of quadrature will give 0'(cosine) and 90'(sine).Theoutputoftheabovesignalisgiventodigital receiver.Inthatreceivercomparingthetwosignalsampledand correlated(withthesimilarsignalfromthe2nd antenna)inthe digitalreceiver.Thelatterhasalsoprovisionforintegrating the correlated data before passing it on to the computer for storage.

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1.BlockDiagramofDigitalReceiver

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DigitalcorrelatorboardElectronicschematicdiagram:

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Logperiodicantenna:

InThislogperiodicAntennaoperatingrangeinfrequencyof183MHzto 193MHz,over a bandwidth of 10MHz and gain of antenna is 7dB,The antenna is made of aluminum tubes(Arms)and booms, For this range frequencyoperationwehavetochoosetheboomlength,armslengthand separation of arms, below table showing the length of Arms and spacingbetweenthedipole. LengthofArms Dipole1 30.4cm Dipole2 33.2cm Dipole3 36 SpacingbetweenDipole Dipole1&Dipole2 28cm Dipole2&Dipole3 29.3cm

Foranytransmittingorreceivingantennaweshouldmatchthesystem impedence,ForthatwehavetomeasuretheVSWR(voltagestandingwave ratio).it is ratio of maximum voltage to minimun voltage along the transmission line.For measuring VSWR we have to use spectrum analyzer.below diagram showing the VSWR of the (183MHz to 193MHz)logperiodicantenna.ForbettersignalVSWRshouldbelessthan 2andreturnlossshouldbemore.

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Measurement : RF FILTER(TUBULAR) OUTPUT: PARAMETERS Centre Frequency Insertion Loss 3 dB Bandwidth Frequency and Level RMS voltage

EAST SIDE 191.4MHz 9dB 6MHz

WEST SIDE 191.4MHz 9dB 6MHz @191.4MHz and -56.5dBm 2.6mv

@191.4MHz and -55dBm 3.2mv

RF AMPLIFIER(MAN) OUTPUT: PARAMETERS Gain of the Amplifier Frequency and Level RMS voltage VSWR EAST SIDE +30dBm @191.4MHz and -25dBm 50mv 1.5 WEST SIDE +30dBm @191.4MHz and -26.5dBm 94.5mv 1.5

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RF MIXER(SBL)OUTPUT: PARAMETERS Insertion Loss Frequency and Level RMS voltage LO OUTPUT: PARAMETERS Frequency and Level IF FILTER(TRILITHIC)OUTPUT: PARAMETERS Centre Frequency Insertion Loss 3 dB Bandwidth Frequency and Level RMS voltage 6dB

EAST SIDE 6dB @10.7MHz and -31dBm 67mv

WEST SIDE @10.7MHz and -34.5dBm 34mv

EAST SIDE @180.7MHz and +8dBm

WEST SIDE @180.7MHz and +8dBm

EAST SIDE 10.7MHz 1dB 1MHz @10.7MHz and -32dBm 25mv 9mv

WEST SIDE 10.7MHz 1dB 1MHz @75MHz and -35dBm

IF AMPLIFIER(MAN) OUTPUT: PARAMETERS Gain of the Amplifier Frequency and Level RMS voltage VSWR EAST SIDE +28dBm @10.7MHz and -5.5dBm 476mv 1.5 WEST SIDE +28dBm @10.7MHz and -7dBm 156mv 1.5

IF QUADRATURE(PSCQ): PARAMETERS Insertion Loss Frequency and Level RMS voltage 3dB @10.7MHz and -8.5dBm 220mv EAST SIDE 3dB @10.7MHz and -10dBm 160mv WEST SIDE

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Installation Systemrequirements:

DesktoporLaptopwithMicrosoftwindowsXP(PIII,IV). Please maintain the screen resolution 1280X1024 or maintain maximumresolution. USBport. Howtoinstallthesystem

1. Mountthetwologperiodicantennasseparatedbyadistanceof about5080m,dependingonthedistancetothereceiverroomand theavailablelengthofRG8Ucable. 2. Connect15Vpowersupplytotheamplifiersneartheantennaend aswellasinthereceiverroom. 3. Connectthe1ststageamplifierstotheoutputfromthetwo antennas. 4. Taketwonos.of25mlengthofRG8Ucableandconnectthe outputoftheabovetwoamplifierstooneendofeachofthem. 5. Connecttheinputofthetwo2ndstageamplifierstotheother endoftheaforementionedtwoRG8Ucables. 6. Connecttheoutputofthetwo2ndstageamplifierstotheinput oftheanalogreceiverunitinthereceiverroomusingthe remainingtwonos.of50mlengthofRG8Ucables. 7. ConnectthetwoIFoutputsfromtheanalogreceivertothe digitalreceiver. 8. Connect5&5Vpowersupplytothedigitalreceiver. ConnecttheoutputofthedigitalreceivertotheUSBportofthe Laptop/Desktopusingtheinterfacecable.

HardwareInstallationprocedure: TheDAQSoftwareinstallationprogramconsistsofaseriesofeasyto followdialogsthatleadyouthroughtheinstallationprocedure.To installtheMeasurementComputingDAQsoftware,dothefollowing. InserttheMeasurementComputingDataAcquisitionSoftwareCDinyour CDdriveandwaitfortheinstallationprogramtostart. Iftheinstallationprogramdoesnotstartautomatically,use WindowsExplorertobrowsetotherootoftheCD,and doubleclickonandfollowthefollowingsteps:

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TheMCCDAQdialogopens. ThenpressINSTALL

ThenpressNEXTandfollowit.

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ThenpressINSTALLtoinstalltheprogram. RunningInstaCalandadding yourhardware ThissectionexplainshowtorunInstaCalandaddtheUSBBOARD totheInstaCalconfiguration. 1.TorunInstaCal,clickonStartAllProgramsMeasurement ComputingInstaCal. InstaCal'smainformopens.

Thenautomaticallyawindowappearslikebellow

clickok to add the USB board.

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If instacall doesn't start automatically then please follow the followingproceduretoaddboard: 2.ClicktherightmousebuttononthePCBoardList,andselectAdd Boardfromthepopupmenu.

TheBoardSelectionListdialogopens. RunningInstaCalandaddingyourhardware 3.ClickontheUSBtab. 4.ScrolldowntoselectUSBBOARD,andthenclickontheAdd button. TheUSBBOARDisaddedtoInstaCal'smainform. NowthatyouhaveaddedtheUSBBOARDyoucanusethisformto configureandtesttheUSBBOARD. Installingthedataacquisitionsoftware: Doubleclicksetup.ExefilefromtheacquisitionCDandfollowthe instructionstoinstalldataacquisitionsoftware...

Thenpleasefollowthepopupinstructionstoinstall...

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HowtostarttheIHYdataacquisition: 1) AftersuccessfullyinstallingIHYDataacquisitionsoftwareCD anIHYiconwillappearonthedesktopautomatically. 2) Checkallthepowersupplyison. 3) DoubleclicktheIHYicontostartdataacquisition. 4) Theinitializationscreenwillappearonthescreenasshown below.

5) Choosetheappropriatesourceandtheobservationtimeinhrsand thenpressOKtostartacquisitionasshownbelow.

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6) TheDataacquisitionscreenwillappearonthescreenas shownabove.

DataStorage&Filenameformat: 1) UsercanchoosetheDirectorywheredatacanbestoredas mentionedabove. 2) InthatdirectoryafoldernamedIHYwillbecreated automaticallywheretheobserveddatafileswillbesaved. 3) Thefilenameformatandexampleisasgivenbelow Format:IHYyyyymmddHHMMSS.source Example:IHY20080817035932.SUN extensionofthefilenamerepresentsthefirstthreecharacters oftheobservedsourcename.

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Tips&Hints: 1) Restartcomputerafterinstallationofthesoftware. 2) Checkthepowersupplyconnectionsbeforethesystemisswitched 'ON'forobservations. 3) Itisalwaysbettertocarryoutatrialruneverydayforafew minutesbeforecommencingtheregularobservation. 4) Ensurethatthepowersupply(bothACaswellasDC)is'OFF' whilecheckingtheanaloganddigitalcomponentsinthesystem. 5) Pleasedisableantivirus,screensavers,powermode,automatic updatesetc...inthecomputerthatisusedfordataacquisition. Theymightdisturbtheobservations. 6) Avoidrunningotherapplicationsinthedataacquisitioncomputer (eitherinthebackgroundorforeground)whiletheobservationis 'ON'. 7) Avoidseepageofrainwaterinsidethe1stand2ndstageRF amplifierswhichwillbeoutthereinthe'field'.Keepthemina dryenvironmentandataheightofabouttwofeetfromthe ground. 8) Carryoutobservationseverydaybetween10AM(START)3PM (END),tothemaximumpossibleextent. 9) TherawdatawillbestoredinASCIIformatinthecomputerhard disk.ItcanbeplottedeitherusingMATLABorMSEXCELsoftware oranyothergraphicsroutine. Someofthequantitativeresultsthatcanbeobtaineduponanalysisof thedataobtainedare:

Acomparisionofthedailyfringeamplitude(particularlywhen theSunis'undisturbed',I.ewhenthereisnosolarflare activity)foraperiodoftimewillgiveinformationonthe variationintheradioemissionfromthebackgroundsolarcorona at191.4MHzandtheappearance/disappearanceofdiscrete structuresinthesolaratmospherelikecoronalholes,streamers, etc. Anestimationoftheangularseparationbetweentheadjacent fringesgiveinformationthebaselineseparationbetweenthetwo antennas.Notethatthefringeseparationisproportionaltod radians,where'd'isthebaselineseparationbetweenthe antennasand''isthewavelengthofobservation. Radioburstemissiondataobtainedduringasolarflare/coronal massejectioncanbeanalyzedtoobtaininformationonplasma parametersoftheassociatedregioninthesolaratmosphere.