Adventures in radio astronomy instrumentation and signal processing

• Main Author: McMahon, Peter Leonard
• Other Authors: Inggs, Michael
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2014
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5165

Includes abstract. === Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-119). === This thesis describes the design and implementation of several instruments for digitizing and processing analogue astronomical signals collected using radio telescopes. Modern radio telescopes have significant digital signal processing demands that are typically best met using custom processing engines implemented in Field Programmable Gate Arrays. These demands essentially stem from the ever-larger analogue bandwidths that astronomers wish to observe, resulting in large data volumes that need to be processed in real time. We focused on the development of spectrometers for enabling improved pulsar² science on the Allen Telescope Array, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Observatory telescope, the Nançay Radio Telescope, and the Parkes Radio Telescope. We also present work that we conducted on the development of real-time pulsar timing instrumentation.