University spin out delivers unique facility in Western Australia
EMITE was awarded the contract to manufacture and supply parts for a reverberation chamber that will undertake the emissions compliance testing of SKA-Low telescope systems and associated hardware before they go to site. The reverberation chamber is being used to characterise the emissions from unshielded technologies and devices, and provide the detailed information needed to determine shielding requirements and protect observations on site.
The Murcia-based company, a spin out of the Technical University of Carthagene, provides test systems worldwide and has previously worked for the European Space Agency.
The SKA-Low telescope will be extremely sensitive to faint radio signals from the Universe, and operates in a protected radio-quiet zone at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia, a site that already operates working radio telescopes. That is why all electrical equipment must be tested prior to being installed on site to verify that they do not ‘leak’ radio waves that could interfere with observations.
The new facility, installed at the SKAO’s Engineering Operations Centre in the Mid West town of Geraldton, is the only facility of its kind in Western Australia.
EMITE’s involvement in this project is really exciting and an enormous challenge. We are honoured to have our test systems being used for the extraordinarily challenging mission of SKAO.
