Preparation work

The idea was to deploy the tiles before the first winter snows arrived. And although there was some scattered patches of snow on the ground when the team arrived, it certainly wasn't anything prohibitive.


The first step for placing the two test tiles was to level the patches of ground where the tiles would go. This was done with the help of a laser level (see here glaring into the camera lens).


Once the two areas were level, the frames could be assembled on the northern patch. As explained in an earlier post, we intend to put out two tiles. One will go on a raised platform made of open timbre frames, and the other will go directly to the ground (like in conventional LOFAR stations).

Once the frames were put in place, we took delivery of the tiles themselves. These arrived on an articulated lorry and were unloaded in the afternoon.

When packed, the tiles are stood vertically, folded over. At 5 metres long, and 2.5 metres high, they are actually quite vulnerable in this position. As a result, we quickly assembled a support frame that would secure them overnight, ready for tomorrow's deployment.