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The Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) and the Max-Planck-Society, in partnership with SARAO, have equipped MeerKAT with S-band receivers to complement the UHF and L-band receiver systems, providing coverage in the 1.75 - 3.5 GHz frequency range. These receivers are now available for science in shared-risk mode.
Basic characteristics of the system are known, and limited list of calibrators have been characterised. Investigation is still under way regarding the following:
expanding the S-band calibrator list
off-axis polarisation performance and calibration
On the whole, the system appears to be is capable of high sensitivity imaging in Stokes I (see commissioning reports below). We note that polarisation leakage is significant in the upper half of the band and at this stage polarimetric observations in the S3 and S4 sub-bands are not advised - see discussion below.
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Switching between sub-bands requires 'rebuilding' of the sub-array. Including time for delay calibration and subsequent operator quality assurance checks, this process takes about 15 - 20 minutes. Note that if wider frequency coverage is required in the same time slot, but sensitivity is not as vital, multiple sub-arrays with a subset of antennas can be run simultaneously in different bands. |
Sensitivity
The mean SEFD SEFDs per antenna is are given in Figure Figures 1 and 2 below. Note that these are preliminary results, yet to be refined by gain curves.
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