Development of an Ultra - Wideband ( UWL ) Receiver System at Parkes

• Installation of a wideband " UWL " receiver covering the band 0.7 GHz to 4.0 GHz on the Parkes 64-m telescope, together with the 20cm Multibeam receiver, would allow more than 90% of current Parkes observations to be made with no receiver changes, greatly improving the efficiency of Parkes operations. • The digital receiver system could be configured for all types of pulsar observation (except multibeam searches) as well as spectral-line, background and source polarisation observations and VLBI. • The UWL receiver covers the entire ASKAP band and hence can provide vital short-spacing data for ASKAP as well as make possible a highly sensitive real-time interferometer for ASKAP follow-up studies. • The UWL receiver would significantly improve the sensitivity of all pulsar timing observations , including those for the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, and make possible unique studies of frequency-dependent phenomena such as interstellar dispersion, scattering and Faraday rotation as well as studies of pulsar emission mechanisms. • Development of the state-of-the-art UWL receiver and signal processing system will allow Parkes to maintain its role in producing high-impact science and the CASS engineering groups to maintain their world-leading expertise into the SKA era. • Coping with the inevitable RFI across the very wide band of the UWL receiver is obviously of paramount importance. With careful attention to receiver linearity and the use of adaptive RFI filtering, at least 90% of the band should be available for astronomy 95% of the time. • The receiver could be built in two years or less, allowing Parkes to remain competitive for at least the next 8 – 10 years. • National and international collaborations will allow cost sharing and there are possibilities for external funding that can be explored.