Seminar: Phased Array Feed Beamforming and Evaluation

Dr. Doug Hayman 

CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS)

Phased array feed (PAF) receivers are being developed to provide dishes with a wide field of view for the next generation of radiotelescopes, such as the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). These systems are not only very complex to design and build but they also present new challenges in characterization and operation. To study FPAs systems, a prototype interferometerradiotelescope was built at the CSIRO Radiophysics Laboratory in Sydney. This talk will discuss the beamforming and evaluation methods employed on this system the subject of Doug’s recently completed PhD co-supervised by Peter Hall.

Doug will also be more than happy to field questions about ASKAP and PAFs in general.

Biography:
Doug Hayman graduated with a Bachelor of Science (1985) and Bachelor of Engineering (1987) from Sydney University. He then spent three years working on the development, manufacture, testing and repair of FM broadcast transmitters and UHF Studio to Transmitter Links. He then moved to AUSSAT, now Optus, and for two years worked on project managing reconfiguring earth stations, commissioning testing as well as circuit level supervisory and control system design.

Since 1992 he has been with CSIRO. He worked on antenna metrology and led a comprehensive upgrade of CSIRO’s antenna measurement facility hardware and software. He also designed components such as waveguide rotary joints and orthomode transducers and managed a number of antenna related projects.

Since 2003, he has been involved in the development and testing of focal plane arrays for radio astronomy. He recently completed a PhD in the field, titled Beamforming and evaluation of focal plane arrays for radio astronomy. He is now working on a calibration system for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) project and commissioning the telescope. His interests are in antenna measurement techniques, particularly noise performance, phased array feeds and antenna theory and design.