Beam holography of OVRO-LWA antennas using the OVRO 40-m telescope

Abstract

The OVRO-LWA radio telescope is an array of 352 dipole antennas optimized for high red-shift 21-cm cosmology and the detection of magnetospheric radio emission from exoplanets. These scientific cases impose some strict calibration requirements including a very accurate knowledge of the beam for each antenna in the array. This paper outlines a conceptual design to map the beams using pulsar holography. The technique will use the 40-m dish with a feed similar to a single dipole pair in the array, which will drastically increase the sensitivity. Another method is also discussed where the phased array beam is used instead of the dish potentially giving better results.

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