HBA installation progress — 18-Jul-2011

Today was our most productive day yet. This is hardly surprising as we have have had a lot of practice by now and the team is very experienced.

The day started with the early delivery from two lorries. That meant eight new tiles. And, as it turned out, that was precisely what we installed today. We are back on schedule.

Despite needing a short break due to a heavy rain shower that came through, and some slight delays when we needed to correct the ground levels on locations H39 and H28, we managed to get eight tiles installed. We did have a number of framesets ready, so that certainly helped, as did the fact that these did not have quite so far to travel.The eight tiles that arrived today were the last to be delivered. As we mentioned earlier, these were the last batch out of the LOFAR factory in the Netherlands and, although the last tile itself had already been placed on the field, the arrival of these last few certainly marked the end of an era for the project.

Additionally, we managed to get the last frameset completed today. This means that the last frames are produced and are ready to be lifted onto the field first thing in the morning. As a result, we concluded the day by dismantling the construction template for the framesets.

Tuesday will see the last of the tiles deployed. Although there are only three there, it is going to be a challenging day, due to some unexpected problems. More on that tomorrow!