Research Note

A field programmable gate array spectrometer for radio astronomy

First light at the Effelsberg 100-m telescope

¹ Radioastronomisches Institut der Universität Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany e-mail: [stanko;jkerp]@astro.uni-bonn.de
² Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany e-mail: bklein@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de

Received: 21 October 2004
Accepted: 22 February 2005

Abstract

We describe the technological concept and the first-light results of a 1024-channel spectrometer based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) hardware. This spectrometer is the prototype for the seven beam L-band receiver to be installed at the Effelsberg 100-m telescope in autumn 2005. Using “of-the-shelf” hardware and software products, we designed and constructed an extremely flexible Fast-Fourier-Transform (FFT) spectrometer with unprecedented sensitivity and dynamic range, which can be considered prototypical for spectrometer development in future radio astronomy.