NRC telescope correlator passes first major test

The National Research Council (NRC) has successfully tested a high-performance supercomputer that will be part of the US Expanded Very Large Array telescope in New Mexico. The $20-million project of the WIDAR correlator is part of the telescope's expansion which is slated for completion in 2012. It was designed and is being built by NRC engineers at the NRC Dominion Astrophysical Observatory near Penticton BC and includes several large circuit boards built by Breconridge Manufacturing Solutions, Ottawa. The correlator is the latest project in a longstanding collaboration between NRC and the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The correlator combines the signals from many radio telescopes to function as a single instrument….