Long Wavelength Array

At the 2013 SARA Western Conference we toured both the Very Large Array (VLA) and Long Wavelength Array (LWA), both at the GBO site about 65 km west of Socorro, New Mexico USA. The following is a photo essay of the LWA tour hosted by LWA Project Engineer Joe Craig.

Panoramic view of Long Wavelength Array Station 1. The LWA covers an area 100 x 110 m.
Our tour guide and LWA Project Engineer, Joe Craig in front of the LWA equipment enclosure
LWA1 equipment enclosure cable entrance panel. Each of the 257 dipoles has a dedicated coaxial cable and they each enter the enclosure through a lightning arrestor shown here.
LWA1 antenna forest consists of 257 crossed-dipole antennas.
Detail view of the mechanical supports for one half of a dipole at LWA1.
Each antenna assembly has two coaxial cable feedlines and one power cable. The antennas are manufactured by Burns Industries in Nashua, New Hampshire and assembled on-site. The shape of the dipole “blade” elements increases the antenna bandwidth.
The enclosure at the top of each antenna houses two active baluns, one for each dipole, consisting of an amplifier for each antenna blade and a 180° hybrid junction to couple the coaxial feed.
“Chicken wire” grounding screen at LWA1 used to stabilize the conductivity and permittivity of the area below each dual-dipole antenna.
LWA1 antenna forest.
LWA1 equipment shelter and cabinets are custom-built for EMI shielding, providing a total of 100 dB shielding effectiveness.
Tags: 
Long Wavelength Array
LWA antenna
New Mexico
NRAO
SARA Western Conference