VCSBeam Documentation

This documentation describes VCSBeam, a software package designed for processing high time resolution voltage data from the Murchison Widefield Array telescope.

Source code

The source code for this software can be found here.

Contents

• Installation guide
• Mathematical description
  • Definitions – Notation, coordinate systems
  • Calibration – RTS, Hyperdrive, Hyperbeam
  • Beamforming – Applying calibration, phasing up the array, summing antennas
• User's Guide
  • Overview
  • Workflows
    • Beamforming
    • Preparing a calibration solution
    • Examples
  • Applications
    • Fine PFB Offline – Convert coarse channels to fine channels
    • Make MWA Incoh Beam – Form an incoherent beam
    • Make MWA Tied Array Beam – Form a tied-array beam
    • MWA Tied Array Beam PSF – Generate a plot of the tied array beam point spread function
    • MWA Track Primary Beam Response – Track the sensitivity of a tied-array beam for a given RA/Dec as it passes through the MWA's primary beam
• Appendices
  • File formats - RTS, Offringa