Kasdon to make 180,000 PCBs for radio telescope

West Midlands-based Kasdon Electronics is to supply 180,000 PCB assembles for the giant SKA-Low radio telescope, to be built in Australia.

Prototype-SKA-Low-antennas-on-site-in-Australia-Credit-SKAO

The two year contact is with Italian receiver maker Sirio Antenne.

“Sirio Antenne is a developer of high-quality antennas, and they were picked to design and manufacture the antennas used in the SKA-Low observation product,” according to Kasdon. “After a search for a UK partner to support Sirio Antenne, and following the prototyping build phase, Kasdon Electronics was chosen.”

Described only as ‘small double-sided FR4 PCBs’, they will be populated and tested at Kasdon’s site in Willenhall. Production starts in January 2024.

SKA-Low is the low-frequency receiver for the Square Kilometre Array, a vast phased-array, with a 65km base-line and 131,072 2m tall log-periodic antennas distributed as a dense central core surrounded by three spiral arms. Total collecting area is 400,000m²

Image: Prototype SKA-Low antennas on site in Australia Credit – image credit: SKAO