Possible science with a 6-dish xNTD

An early deployment of the xNTD could see 6 dishes with full focal plane array capability installed at the Mileura site by the end of 2008. The system would have a factor 4-5 less collecting area than the complete xNTD with resultant lower sensitivity by a factor of ∼20. I show here that unique H I science can be done with the early deployment instrument. For example, in excess of 1000 galaxies with M* detections to z∼0.13 can be achieved with modest integration time over a region of 30 square degrees. This goes significantly deeper than the Parkes HIPASS survey and detects more galaxies per unit area than the Arecibo AGES survey. Furthermore, obtaining the science will provide a complete shakedown of the system and allow better planning and characterisation of the eventual full-scale surveys.