Difference between revisions of "Undergraduate Radio Lab"

Revision as of 22:57, 12 February 2018

This course consists of four laboratory experiments that concentrate on radio instrumentation and laboratory techniques. We will build receiving, observing, and data analysis systems for two telescopes: a single-dish 21-cm line system, and a 10.7-GHz interferometer. We will use these telescopes for astronomical observing projects including structure of the Milky Way galaxy, precise position measurement of several radio sources, and measurement of the radio brightness distributions of the sun and moon with high angular resolution. There is a heavy emphasis on digital data acquisition, software development in the Python language, and high-quality written reports.

Class Programmatics

Class Code Repository: http://github.com/AaronParsons/ugradio
Syllabus
Office Hours:
- Aaron: Monday 4-5pm, Tuesday afternoons
- Deepthi: Thursday 1:30-3pm, Friday 10.30-12noon
- Kara: Monday and Wednesday, 3:30-5pm
Lab1 Groups:
- Fourier Entertainment: (Berger, Khodanian, Shippee, Sipple)
- Local Group: (Domnauer, Pajaud, Wayland, Pascua)
- Radioheads: (Nguyen, Coy, Lin)
- TBD: (Lebedeva, Khademi Sharifabad, Tan)
- Sharks in Space: (Fonseca, Sheridan, Robinson, Williams)
- Whatever: (Chen, Marroquin, Cabrera Garcia, Hermosillo Ruiz)
- (Martirosyan?)

Experiments

General Skills Used Through-Out Course

Topics by Date

Lab 1 (Exploring Digital Sampling, Fourier Transforms, and both DSB and SSB Mixers), Due Feb 6 6:00p

Lab 1, Week 1 (Jan 16): Sampling and Power Spectra

Theory and Background
- Nyquist Sampling
Demos and Tutorials
- Introduction to Python and Plotting
- Aliasing Demo
In class:
- Astrobaki, Syllabus, Office Hours
- Lecture: How EM waves get onto a wire
- Radio Astronomy: State of the Union
- Tour of lab
  - Lab components
- Getting accounts / setting up environments
  - Unix Primer
  - Python Installation and Basic Programming, first pass
  - Revision Control, first pass
  - Unix Text Editors
- Lecture: Nyquist sampling and aliasing

Lab 1, Week 2 (Jan 23): DSB and SSB Mixers

Theory and Background:
Demos and Tutorials
- In the Mind: Introduction to the Fourier Transform with handout on DFTs with DFTs
- Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival of Python Oddities
- Data Representations, with handout on Data Types and Organizational Structures
In class:
- Lecture: Fourier Transforms, Convolution Theorem, Data Types
- Show and Tell (10m per group)
- Scientific Python Review (numpy, pylab, scipy)
- Python Installation and Basic Programming, second pass
- Lecture: Introduction to DSB and SSB Mixers

Lab 1, Week 3 (Jan 30): More Mixers, and Lab Reports

Theory and Background
- LaTeX
- Introduction to Python and Plotting, second pass
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- Writing Lab Reports
Lab 1 Due Feb 6 6:00p

Lab 2 (Astronomy with the 21cm Line; Some Microwave Electronics), due Feb 27 6:00p

Lab 2, Week 1 (Feb 6): 21cm Line and Waveguides

Theory and Background:
Demos and Tutorials
- Python Tutorial Part 3: Functions, Modules, and Objects
- Central Limit Theorem and Averaging
In class:
- Introduction to Horn and Receiver
- Time
- Doppler Corrections, ugradio.doppler

Lab 2, Week 2 (Feb 13): Collect and Analyze Data

Theory and Background
Demos and Tutorials
- Matrix Math with Numpy
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- Waveguides, Transmission Lines, and Rope
- Fitting Gaussians and Polynomials, ugradio.gauss

Lab 2, Week 3 (Feb 20): Write Lab Report

Theory and Background
- Least-Squares and Chi-Square for the Budding Aficionado: Art and Practice
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- Least Squares Part 2
Lab 2 Due Feb 27 6:00p

Lab 3 (Radio Interferometry at X Band), due Apr 3 6:00p

Lab 3 Week 1 (Feb 27): Interferometer

Theory and Background
- Coordinates
- Basic Interferometry
In Class:
- Tour of Rooftop Interferometer
- Exercise Ball Coordinates
- Interferometry with Strings

Lab 3 Week 2 (Mar 6): Collect and Analyze Data

Theory and Background
- Measurement Equation
- Telescope Field of View/Resolution
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- Controlling the Telescope
- Tracking the Sun
- Scheduling Observations

Lab 3 Week 3 (Mar 13): Collect and Analyze Data

Theory and Background
- Basic Interferometry II
- Least Squares
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- Linear Least-Squares in Python
- Minimizing Chi-Square
- Noise in Observations

Lab 3 Week 4 (Mar 20): Write Lab Report

Theory and Background
- - Correlators
  - Units of radiation
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- Photon bucket demo
Lab 3 Due Apr 3 6:00p

No class (Mar 27)

Lab 4 (Mapping the HI Line: the Galaxy and Supershells), due May 1 6:00p

Lab 4 Week 1 (Apr 3): Leuschner Dish

Theory and Background
- Specific Intensity
- Radio Sky
In Class:
- Trip to Leuschner: Class will go later than usual
- drive mechanism (how the dish moves)
- feed (notice probes) and cables
- IF setup (one channel for OH, one for HI)
- show spectrum
- demo action
- spatial sampling with dish

Lab 4 Week 2 (Apr 10): Collect and Analyze Data

Theory and Background
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- pointing control
- how to take data
- computing doppler width for a line of sight (assuming circular motion)

Lab 4 Week 3 (Apr 17): Collect and Analyze Data

Theory and Background
- Emission Line Observing
- Pulsars
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- close-out plan
- calibrating spectra
- doppler correction

Lab 4 Week 4 (Apr 24): Write Lab Report

Theory and Background
- Calibrating the Intensity and Shape of Spectral Lines (Carl Heiles)
In Class:
- Show and Tell
- displaying information in image form
- Lab 4 Due May 1 6:00p

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ** Kara: Monday and Wednesday, 3:30-5pm
 * Lab1 Groups:
-** Mixed Signals: (Chavez, Tom, Sipple, Orzechowski)
+** Fourier Entertainment: (Berger, Khodanian, Shippee, Sipple)
 ** Local Group: (Domnauer, Pajaud, Wayland, Pascua)
-** Radioheads: (Nguyen, Coy, Lin, Berger)
+** Radioheads: (Nguyen, Coy, Lin)
-** TBD: (Lebedeva, Khademi Sharifabad, Tan, Shippee)
+** TBD: (Lebedeva, Khademi Sharifabad, Tan)
 ** Sharks in Space: (Fonseca, Sheridan, Robinson, Williams)
 ** Whatever: (Chen, Marroquin, Cabrera Garcia, Hermosillo Ruiz)