Station Representation

Collection of classes that represent the various levels of an array.

class station.Antenna(id, x, y, z, status=1, pol=1, cable=None)
Object to store information about individual antennas. Stores:

  • ID Number

  • Position relative to origin in meters (x(East), y(North), z(Up))

  • Polarization (1 or 2)

  • Status (1 is good, 0 is bad)

property cable

Return the station.Cable object associated with this antenna.

class station.Cable(id, length, vf, a, b, sigma_a, sigma_b, k, f0)
Object to store information about a cable. Stores:

  • ID Number

  • Length [m]

  • Velocity Factor (vf)

  • Inner conductor radius (a) [m]

  • Outer conductor radius (b) [m]

  • Inner conductor conductivity (sigma_a) [S/m]

  • Outer conductor conductivity (sigma_b) [S/m]

  • Relative permittity (dielectric constant) (k)

  • Reference frequency (f0) [Hz]

Note

Attenuation and delay methods are described in LWA Memo #187.

attenuation(frequency, dB=False)

Compute the signal attenuation due to cable loss.

Inputs:

  • frequency - Frequency in Hz.

  • dB - Return the cable attenuation in dB.

Returns:

  • Cable attenuation.

delay(frequency)

Compute the signal delay, both bulk and dispersive terms, induced by the cable.

Inputs:

  • frequency - Frequency in Hz.

Returns:

  • Cable delay in seconds.

class station.LMR200(id, length)
Convenience subclass to populate a Cable object for a LMR200 cable. Inputs:

  • Cable ID

  • Cable length [m]

Note

The values of the attenuation method are set to match the Times Mircowave LMR-200 data sheet. See https://www.timesmicrowave.com/DataSheets/CableProducts/LMR-200.pdf for more information.

attenuation(frequency, dB=False)

Compute the signal attenuation due to cable loss.

Inputs:

  • frequency - Frequency in Hz.

  • dB - Return the cable attenuation in dB.

Returns:

  • Cable attenuation.

class station.LMR400(id, length)
Convenience subclass to populate a Cable object for a LMR400 cable. Inputs:

  • Cable ID

  • Cable length [m]

Note

The values of the attenuation method are set to match the Times Mircowave LMR-400 data sheet. See https://www.timesmicrowave.com/DataSheets/CableProducts/LMR-400.pdf for more information.

attenuation(frequency, dB=False)

Compute the signal attenuation due to cable loss.

Inputs:

  • frequency - Frequency in Hz.

  • dB - Return the cable attenuation in dB.

Returns:

  • Cable attenuation.

class station.Station(name=None, latitude=None, longitude=None, antennas=None)
Object to store information about an antenna array. Stores:

  • Station Name

  • Antenna Objects

  • Array Latitude (float degrees)

  • Array Longitude (float degrees)

property antennas

Return a list of station.Antenna objects that the station.Station object is comprised of.

plot_antennas()

Plot the locations of the antennas.

station.load_LWA(ssmif)

Read in a LWA SSMIF file and return a fully populated station.Station object.

Inputs:

  • ssmif - LWA SSMIF file (.txt)

Returns:

  • station.Station object.

Note

This function requires the LWA Software Library (LSL)

station.load_station(arg)

Load in a template file (.txt) which contains information about the station. See the README and station_template.txt files for more information.

Inputs:

  • arg - Station template file (.txt)

Returns:

  • station.Station object