Oral Presentation

The design and test results of BURSTT 64-antenna outrigger station in central Taiwan

Author(s): Shih-Hao Wang (on behalf of BURSTT collaboration)

Presenter: Shih-Hao Wang (ASIAA & LeCosPA, National Taiwan University)

The BURSTT-256 telescope, dedicated to surveying fast radio bursts (FRBs) in the nearby Universe, consists of multiple beamforming antenna arrays operating at 400-800 MHz band, separated by >100 km apart. It features a wide (~100°x 100°) instantaneous field of view for high-cadence survey and <1" angular resolution for source localization, so as to maximize the chances of studying FRBs in detail and detecting their multi-wavelength counterparts.
The first completed BURSTT outrigger station with 64 antennas was deployed at Nantou county, central Taiwan in May, 2024. Positioned at ~140 km distance from 256-antenna main station and with relatively easy accessibility, the station serve as a platform for experimenting on hardware and developing software, such as antenna design, radio frequency interference (RFI) shielding, as well as Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique. The presentation outlines the design of the outrigger station and first calibration results with the Sun, compact radio sources, pulsars, etc.