Here is a copy of my May 27 reply to Barry Clark. It has no secrets --- you can distribute it as you wish. Bottom line is that we need to see how the ATA comes out and whether SKA development work leads to a low-cost 100 GHz antenna in the 12m range. A good development job for NRAO would be to design a 10 to 50 GHz or even 100 GHz log-periodic feed in a cryogenic vacuum dewar.
From: Sander Weinreb
Re: Multielement station for eVLA
Barry,
Thanks for the excellent memo on eVLA station cost. I hope you do not mind if I forward it to Larry Daddario and Durga Bagri. Larry and I are planning to present talks on the SKA cost equation at the Berkeley SKA meeting; I will cover the antenna and front-end costs and Larry will do the data processing cost. I hope you are planning to attend this meeting, July 9-12, and perhaps will also give a talk on costs.
Some comments on your memo:
We need better cost estimates and we will be getting them from the ATA experience and SKA studies that are planned. It is important to find out how the cost of hydroformed antennas goes with diameter and upper frequency and what is the cost of an on-site assembly plant. We also need to assess how factors other than cost effect the question of antennas per station - field of view, dynamic range, and maintenance.
I have attached a .pdf version of your memo and a brief .xls file of my cost analysis using most of your figures but also the $120K electronics cost.
-- Sandy