Accuracy of Thin-wire MoM Formulations for Phased Array Analysis for SKA-LOW

Abstract

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project is an international effort to build the world's largest radio telescope, with eventually over a square kilometre (one million square metres) of collecting area envisaged [1]. SKA-LOW, the low frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescopes, will be deployed on the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia. Our Curtin engineering team is currently working on the analysis and simulation of this pioneering system. It will consist of a large array of essentially dipole-like radiators, clustered into “stations” of 256 antennas. The current prototype antenna consists of a dual-polarised log-periodic dipole, with a 7:1 design bandwidth from 50–350 MHz. This is a relatively complex structure to simulate.