Table 1
Specifications of contemporary radio transient detection machines.
| Parameter | AARTFAAC LBA | MWA | LWA1 | Comment |
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| Array elements | 288 inverted V antennas | 128 tiles | 256 wiregrid bowtie | Dual polarized elements |
| Frequency range (MHz) | 30–80 | 80–300 | 10–88 | |
| Field of view (sr) | π | 0.06π | π | FWHM of beam |
| Total Effective area (m2) | 2617a | 2752b | 1393c | |
| Tsys(ν-2.55 K) | 3600 | 350 | 2100 | |
| Angular resolution (arcmin) | 60 | 3 | 120 | |
| Spectral resolution (kHz) | 16 | 40 | 75 | |
| Processed Bandwidth (MHz) | 13 | 30.72 | 0.075 | LWA: Narrow band Imaging |
| Temporal resolution (s) | 1 | 8 | 5 | |
| Transient detection FoMd(m2 sr K-1) | 2.28 | 1.48 | 2.08 | Per unit BW and unit time |
Notes. The parameters are estimated at the highest sensitivity of each instrument, viz. 60 MHz for AARTFAAC, 150 MHz for the MWA, and 74 MHz for the LWA, which continuously observes only in its “Narrow band” mode. The zenith pointing Aeff is quoted. The Tsys (assumed to be sky noise dominated) is also evaluated at the same frequencies from Bregman (2000).
(b)
From Ellingson et al. (2013).
(c)
From Tingay et al. (2013).
(d)
See Sect. 2 for FoM definition.