The UK 64-Element SKA1-LOW Development Array

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope is designed to operate concurrently over multiple frequency bands across two continents. The low frequency instrument which will be deployed in Western Australia will operate in the 50 MHz to 350 MHz band using thousands of broadband log-period antennas (SKALA type). In this paper, we present a verification array consisting of 64 SKALA4 antennas operating at Lord’s Bridge, Cambridge. The array utilises much of the technology proposed for SKA1-LOW, including RF-over-Fibre WDM optical transmitters. Some changes to the system architecture have been made, including switchable filters to allow operation in a higher RFI environment, especially from FM and digital radio. In this paper, we present an overview of the system which will be used for validation of EM models proposed for SKA1-LOW.