Professor Ian Morison, G0DMU will give a review of the history of Jodrell Bank, one of the world’s premier radio astronomy observatories; from its founding in 1945, the completion of the Mk I (now Lovell) radio telescope in 1957 – still the third largest fully steerable telescope in the world – and the building of the MERLIN array in the 1980s and 90s.

The MERLIN array has the same resolution as the Hubble Space Telescope and many collaborative observations have been made over the past 30 years. Its seven telescopes also link up with others across Europe to provide an instrument whose resolution far exceeds that of optical telescopes.

Some of its most exciting discoveries will be discussed in the context of how radio observations are made – many of which can complement those made by optical telescopes.

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This presentation covers a range of antenna-related information so there should be something for everyone:

What makes a radio wave? Some mysterious properties of radio waves which you might not have appreciated. How do you launch radio waves? Antennas. Radiation resistance. Radiation patterns. Antenna gain. Transmitting and receiving. Getting power into, and from, your antenna. Resonance, or lack thereof. Feeders. Feeder impedance. Matching – does VSWR really matter? Why can’t you make a monopole? Multi-element antennas. Phased antennas.

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