Telecom New Zealand has handed over to Auckland University of Technology (AUT) its 30-metre Cassegrain wheel-and-track beam-waveguide antenna. It was manufactured in 1984 by Nippon Electric Corp., and since then it was used by Telecom NZ for communication between New Zealand and Pacific Islands. The antenna is located near Warkworth, just 200 metres north of the AUT’s 12-m radio telescope, which was launched two years ago. According to expert opinion, the antenna is in a good state, and after conversion to a radio telescope it has the potential to become a world-class facility. This event will have a significant impact on research and development in practical radio astronomy and Very Long Baseline Interferometry, enhancing New Zealand’s capability to co-host the Square Kilometre Array with Australia.
For more information, please see Telecom NZ's media release.
Image: Nestled among the green hills of Warkworth, AUT and Telecom NZ are working together to build one of the largest and most advanced research facilities in the country. Photo shows 12-m Patriot antenna (left) and the 30-m dish (right). The Observatory is equipped with a Hydrogen maser; it is collocated with a cGPS base station and has 1Gbps connectivity via the KAREN network both nationally and internationally.
Credit: Sergei Gulyaev.