In article <pdima1hl13tg033tt0ghnt0plvcsb03ba6@4ax.com>, f/fgeorge  <*> wrote:
  [ ... ]

I think VLAR means very low angle and VHAR means very high angle.

Very Low Angle Range, Very High Angle Range.

That would mean that the signal was received at that angle related to
the surface of the dish, or Earth in this case. That would indicate
more or less interference and more noise in the unit. The results in a
dropping of the unit based on the amount of noise making it
unprocessable, is that a word?
Sooo some fast some slow units.

No, it has to do with the angle the beam swept while the data was recorded.
If it's tracking a specific "target" (star, nebula, pulsar, etc.) the the
beam doesn't sweep, so you get a VLAR WU. If Arecibo is changing targets,
then the beam moves acros a lot of the sky and you get a VHAR WU.

If Arecibo isn't moving the receiver assembly, then the beam sweeps at
the earths' rotational rate, which I believe is 0.426 AR.

The lower the AR, the more processing can be done, as others have explained.


Gary

-- 
Gary Heston  gheston@hiwaay.net 
Did you hear about the people caught falsely advertising
Star Wars memorabilia?
They were charged with Bait and Sith.