Members section: Astron

ASTRON facilitates scientists in radio astronomy through the development of equipment and systems that can receive and process broadband radio signals with great sensitivity. In 1948, the development and construction of radio telescopes started, the Dwingeloo telescope, which became the largest directional radio telescope in the world in 1956, followed by the Westerbork telescope in
1970 and the largest low-frequency telescope in the world LOFAR in 2010.

Nico Ebbendorf is contact person for the Dutch EMC-ESD association. He is group head of the technical support group and has broad knowledge of RF and EMC. He is also manager of all measuring equipment and test facilities at ASTRON and promoter of the wireless data lab.

ASTRON as a knowledge institute is open to sharing knowledge and experience with members of the association through presentations and participating in discussions. We have equipment and test facilities that can also be used by external parties. Knowledge and experience of other developers but also of suppliers is important to follow (technological) developments and to start new developments yourself.

ASTRON's biggest EMC challenge at the moment is to detect very low-power radio signals with high sensitivity in an environment with RF interference.

In the future we foresee a growing use of the radio spectrum and also of (digital) electrical equipment. Properly eliminating interference from equipment and making it resistant to external interference will become increasingly important for the end user(s).

For more than 10 years, the ASTRON organization has been much more open to collaborations and knowledge exchange. We anticipate many more projects together with companies in the coming years. We have started a wireless data lab for knowledge exchange and collaboration with companies. For more information see: www.astron.nl/wireless-data-lab/.