A stack of conduit pipe is poised for installation.
Trenches are dug 4 to 5 ft deep for conduit pipe that will house fiber optic cable.
Pedastool foundations extending down to bed rock (sometimes 20 ft deep) mark future antenna sites.
Trenches are dug along the pedastool foundations. Fiber optic conduit is layed.
Trenches are networked to a single kernel. The site of the kernal is prepared for concrete. From here the fiber optic cables will go to the correlator room where the signals of the individual dishes are synthesized.
Pedastools are carried to their foundations using a crane.
The pedastools are ready for the dish and the sub reflector.
The dish and the subreflector are assembled on-site in a tent.
The main reflector is lifted by a crane so its subreflector and alidades can be attached.
The dish is mounted on its pedastool using an exotic fork-lift that we call the "t-rex".
Technicians use a lift to bolt down the dish onto the pedastool. The entire mounting process typically takes less than an hour.
The final step is to install the feed and the other electronics that allow to the antenna's to function together as one interferometer.
