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Radio Observatory
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Radio Observatory
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The University of Florida's Radio Observatory (UFRO), is dedicated to the study of decametric radio emission from the planet Jupiter. It is located in Dixie County 50 miles west of Gainesville, near Old Town, Florida in a "radio quiet" area around 2.5 miles from the nearest highway. |
Click on Map Below To See Images |
| Log-spiral Array: The main antennas used at UFRO for
monitoring the Jovian decametric mission are two arrays of conical log
spiral elements. Each array has eight elements; one array is right-hand
and the other left-hand circularly polarized. The conical log spiral
element is also known as TP for its resemblance to the Native American Tee
Pee. Each TP element is about 8 meters tall and has a diameter of about 5
meters at the base. The TP is a broad band element and has been designed
to work over a wide range of frequencies. For monitoring the Jovian
Decametric Emission the UFRO TP arrays are used in the frequency range
from 18 to 40 MHz. The
arrays have a fixed beam array in the E-W direction but it can be
phase-steered in the N-S direction. The E-W half-power beam width is about
90 degrees and allows the observation of Jupiter for a total of about 6
hours, from 3 hours before transit to 3 hours after transit.
Dipole Array: The 640-dipole array was completed in 1972. The array is a 350-KHz broadband antenna with a center frequency of 26.3 MHz Yagi Antennas: 5-element Yagis are used for the 18 and
22.2 MHz channels while the 4-element Yagi is used for data collection for
the 20MHz channel. A dipole radiator, a reflector element, and one or more
director elements make up a Yagi antenna. The reflector and director
elements are essential for focussing the radiation and increasing the gain
of the antenna.
Antenna parameters for the Yagis (A New Determination of Jupiter's Radio Rotation Period, 1996, Dr. Charles Higgins)
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