Preserving Radio Silence At the Square Kilometer Array

johnslater writes: The Guardian has a story on the radio silence requirements at the Square Kilometer Array in Australia. The RF requirements for the SKA are far more stringent than at the US National Radio Quiet Zone at Greenbank, to such an extent that the specialized supercomputers to control the array have specially shielded data centers, and the as-yet-unbuilt supercomputer to process the data will be located hundreds of miles away in Perth. To quote Dr John Morgan in the article: "You can guarantee that the thing that SKA will be remembered for ... is going to be the thing you have not thought of. It's the unknown unknown."

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Re:FYI radio astronomers: Beware dodgy microwave o

[bruce_the_loon]

I've met a couple of the chaps working on the South African SKA site, very interesting characters to say the least.

One of the things that stuck in my mind was how sensitve the receivers are, if they unpack them and a cell phone is on in the direction of the receiver horn, they'll blow the circuits instantly.

They also have controlled perimeters where phones are locked away and even airplane transponders are switched off before they cross the perimeter. Ridiculously sensitive stuff.