Electromagnetic Compatibility
Radio telescopes are sensitive to the faintest of signals that have been travelling across the Universe for billions of years.
CIRA engineers and technicians are experienced in designing electronics that are radio frequency shielded – meaning that the level of electromagnetic (EM) energy emitted by the electronics does not exceed applicable EM interference (EMI) limits. This capability is critical to operating radio telescopes like the MWA and the SKA.
EMI is tested in Curtin University’s anechoic chamber: https://farnsworth-stg.curtin.edu.au/cira/home/our-facilities/.
Cross-disciplinary engagement between Operations and Research Engineers, and local suppliers and professional services providers has supported the development of the SKA-Low PaSD system. A number of these companies have leveraged this awareness to engage in new markets and opportunities that they had not considered previously.
EMI shielding in engineering design
Engineers at CIRA were contracted to design the Power and Signal Distribution (PaSD) system for the SKA-Low.
The PaSD system sits within the overall SKA-Low radio telescope which will eventually consist of up to 512 Field Nodes spread across an area of up to 100km in diameter at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara – the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory.
Case Study on PaSD system
In meeting the extraordinary challenge of designing a sophisticated, reliable, and cost-effective power conditioning, control and monitoring system that has an almost undetectable electromagnetic footprint, the PaSD design retired a significant technical risk to the success of SKA-Low.