Astronomical instrumentation

The success of a radio observatory rests heavily on its ability to work at the frontiers of technology to develop cutting-edge software and hardware instrumentation to detect and process weak radio astronomical signals. Areas of research and development at NCRA-TIFR include wideband antenna feed elements, sensitive front-end analog electronics with high dynamic range, new signal transport systems, and back-end receiver systems combining hardware and software technologies. Of particular interest is the development of flexible software- and hardware-based back-ends, an area where NCRA-TIFR has played and continues to play, a pioneering role. New modes include flexible post-processing of voltage signals, mitigation of terrestrial interference, the detection of transients, new correlation modes for interferometry, etc, which have greatly enhanced the capabilities of both the GMRT and the ORT.