The guyed NIRFI radio telescope

Conclusions

The experiment of planning, constructing, and operating the RTVS-12 radio telescope has demonstrated that it is possible in principle to use a prestressed guyed rod spatial structure for the construction of a fully steerable reflecting antenna.

One of the main advantages of this antenna over other antennas of the same size is the light weight of the dish, 1.3 tons. As far as we know, a dish with the usual girder structure weighs 2–4 times as much (unfortunately, there is little data on small-diameter dishes, and moreover, different authors mean different things by the weight of the dish).

The RTVS-12 radio telescope was created as an instrument for decameter wavelengths, that is, the dish was not designed to have a high surface accuracy. In operating the antenna, however, it became clear that it could operate at shorter wavelengths.

The RTVS-12 antenna was a practical test of techniques for calculating similar structures; the accuracy of force calculations for a portable guyed system was determined and the basic shortcomings and omissions were made evident. The data obtained have enabled us to begin planning a guyed radio telescope with a dish 36 m in diameter, with a better perfected structural plan for the dish and the support-rotation structure.