ETA: Electronics Building

Overview: About the renovation of PARI Building 17 and the process of transforming it into the ETA Electronics Building.

Maintainer: Steve Ellingson (Virginia Tech)
This page is http://www.ece.vt.edu/swe/eta/b17/
Last Update: November 5, 2005 UT 1000

In reverse chronological order.

Rack installed with fiber optic transceiver, ethernet router, and an IP phone. November 5, 2005
Ground bus and vertical cable tray installed on egress panel. November 5, 2005
Egress panel installed (outside view). Note enclosure built around egress and also sheltering cables from antennas emerging from the ground. October 27, 2005
Egress panel installed (outside view). Detail of outside-facing side with access door open. October 27, 2005
Egress panel shelter box: Detail of cable conduit ends with access door open. October 27, 2005
Egress panel installed (inside view). October 27, 2005
Thad McCall's solution to hanging the cable trays. The trays slide on aluminum angle brackets hung along the center of the room, and the whole assembly can be moved to one side or the other if needed. October 15, 2005
John Simonetti (VT, L) and Thad McCall (PARI, R) ponder the installation of the cable trays in the west room. (view looking west.) October 11, 2005
John Simonetti (VT, L) and Thad McCall (PARI, R) ponder the installation of the cable trays in the west room. (view looking east.) September 11, 2005
The basic building block of the cable tray system. We briefly considered buying a cable tray system from the commercial communications market, but found that approach to be outrageously expensive. Instead, we will use fold-out truck ramps -- things intended for use in loading an ATV or motorcycle into the back of a pickup. Cost about $79 for two sections (as shown here); we need four sections. October 11, 2005
Installation of dividing wall and door to form east and west rooms. The east room (from where the picture was shot) will be "admin" whereas the west room will be where the electronics go. October 11, 2005
Cameron Patterson and Steve Ellingson's son Ryan work on painting the interior of Building 17. PARI had removed the carpeting and prepared the walls the previous week. September 10, 2005
The interior of Building 17. Don Cline, Steve Ellingson, and Vivek Venugopal pondering renovation plans. The interior was in pretty rough shape; moldy carpet tiles glued to concrete; generally dismal condition overall. August 30, 2005
Building 17, destined to become the ETA Electronics Building. August 30, 2005
View of the West Array Area, including the core array site and Building 17, from the access road. Gives some sense of how the site is at the bottom of a natural bowl formed by the surrounding terrain. August 10, 2005