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S.J. Wijnholds et al., "EMBRACE: First Experimental Results with the Initial 10% of a 10,000 Element Phased Array Radio Telescope", in: S.A. Torchinsky et al., "Wide Field Astronomy & Technology for the Square Kilometre Array - SKADS conference 2009", pp259-264, Limelette (Belgium), 4-6 November 2009 abstract: The Electronic Multi-beam Radio Astronomy Concept (EMBRACE) is the first full-scale prototype of a SKA phased array station. This single polarization demonstrator operates between 500 and 1500 MHz. The station that is currently being built at the site of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, will ultimately consist of 144 tiles with 72 single polarization Vivaldi antennas each giving a total of ~104 elements. The station is equipped with a LOFAR station backend with 192 input channels, which can be exploited for real-time digital beam forming in 248 frequency channels of 195 kHz (~48 MHz total bandwidth) and correlation in a single 195 kHz frequency channel. In this paper we present the results from a number of system validation measurements and the first fringes on an astronomical source, the sun. These initial measurements indicate a system temperature between 103 K and 117 K. These results corroborate the feasibility and applicability of phased array technology at frequencies below 1500 MHz. They also provide valuable insights for the aperture array verification program, the next step in aperture array development towards the SKA. |