Transient Array Radio Telescope

Rhodes University

About

The Transient Array Radio Telescope (TART) is a 24-element all-sky aperture synthesis array radio interferometer operating in the GPS L1 band with a center frequency of 1.5742 GHz. Radio sources for the TART are the transiting GPS satellites transmitting in the L1 band, near-earth objects and high-energetic radio transient events.

Live radio images from TART at Rhodes University can be viewed in real time
Location: Makhanda, South Africa (33.3°S, 26.5°E)

TART was initially developed by the Elec Research Group at the University of Otago. It is already operational at Signal Hill, Dunedin, New Zealand. The TART at Rhodes University has been installed with a new design for the antenna platform which makes it an easy to set up, highly reconfigurable radio interferometer.

Specifications

TART is a fully open source project available on github

General

  • Resolution : 2° 47′34″
  • Sensitivity[kJy]: 8.8
  • Diameter of area coverage :~ 5 m
  • Maximum acquisition time: 1025 ms
  • Maximum baseline (based on current configuration) : 4.047 m
  • Minimum baseline (based on current configuration) : 0.128 m

Antenna

  • Antenna : Active GPS Patch antenna
  • Number of antennas: 24
  • Antenna gain: 28 dBi [from datasheet]
  • Array configuration: Three-arms
  • Length of each arm: 2.5 m

Frequency

  • Center frequency: 1.575 GHz ( 19.03 cm)
  • IF Bandwidth :2.5 MHz
  • Reference frequency for master clock (from base station): 16.368 MHz
  • IF Center frequency: 4.092 MHz
  • Sampling frequency of ADC: 16.368 MHz

Backends

  • Correlator:FX correlator
  • FPGA Model: Xilinx Spartan 6
  • Visibility acquisition: Continuous

Tutorial

Requirements

  • Raspberry Pi 3
  • Micro SD Card (32GB)
  • Ethernet cable
  • UBUNTU 18.04/20.04
  • Card reader

Steps

  1. Download and install the latest version of the Raspberry Pi Imager from the following link
  2. Insert your SD card into the computer with a card reader or an adapter
  3. Open Raspberry Pi Imager and choose the required OS. Our current setup: Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64 bit) [Size: 0.4GB, Released:2022-01-21]
  4. In the storage box, select the target SD card. Ensure to backup important data, it will be overwritten
  5. Click "Write" to begin burning the image to the SD card.
  6. After the completion of the writing process, safely eject your micro SD insert it into your RPi.

Enabling SSH on Raspberry Pi

  1. Connect the RPi to a power source to power it on
  2. To set up a wired internet connection, connect your RPi to your machine with an ethernet cable. Once
    3. plugged in, the network LED will blink on your RPi.
  3. SSH into the Pi
    4.                   
                    # make an ssh directory in boot
                    mkdir /boot/ssh
                    
                    # install putty
                    sudo apt-get install putty
                    
                    # Open the x11 config file for editing using the nano editor
                    sudo nano /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config
                    
                    # in the now open file
                    # change : allowed_users=anybody
                    # add a new line : needs_root_rights=yes
                    # Save and exit using ctrl+o and ctrl+x
                    
                    # Display the Raspberry Pi's address
                    cat /var/lib/misc/dnsmasq.leases
  4. Run Putty and specify the host name or IP address in the new open window
  5. Select SSH, click X11 in the dropdown menu and enable X11 Forwarding
  6. Click Open
  7. Accept the security alert

On Raspberry Terminal

  • Select default Login
  • login as username : pi, Password : raspberry
  • open the raspberryPi config
    •                     
                    sudo raspi-config
  • select “Interfacing Options” using arrow keys and press enter
  • Select “P4 SPI” and enable
  • Change the display/password settings as required

For computers with a wired connection without the "Shared to other computers” IPV4 option

  1. open the connection editor
    2.                       
                        nm-connection-editor
  2. Click on wired connection 1
  3. Go to the IPV4 settings tab and change the method to “Share to other computers”
  4. Save and exit

Gallery

Team members

Because no person is an island

Danie Ludick

Danie Ludick

Stellenbosch (ZA)
Marcel Atemkeng

Marcellin Atemkeng

Rhodes (ZA)
Max Scheel

Maximilian Scheel

Otago (NZ)
Oleg Smirnov

Oleg Smirnov

Rhodes (ZA)
Patrice Okouma

Patrice Okouma

Rhodes (ZA)
Phil Brown

Phil Brown

Otago (NZ)
Rikus Human

Rikus Human

Stellenbosch (ZA)
Sonia Ghosh

Sonia Ghosh

Rhodes (ZA)
Stanley Kuja

Stanley Kuja

Rhodes (ZA)
Tim Molteno

Tim Molteno

Otago (NZ)
Tlaba Mochebele

Tlaba Mochebele

Rhodes (ZA))