The MeerKAT+ project will extend the current MeerKAT Radio Telescope Array at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) site in the Karoo region of South Africa. In this paper we present the developed methodology, instrumentation, and the current status for verifying the pointing accuracy of a single array telescope using an optical pointing telescope and a detailed Pointing Error Budget (PEB) of the radio telescope structure. We will focus on a description of the developed instrumentation, the measurement software, the testing procedures, the measurement plan based upon them, and the applied steps for data processing and analysis. The obtained results are then correlated directly to the PEB. Furthermore, we relate the acquired results from optical pointing tests to some early radio frequency pointing tests and conclude with a discussion.
The SKA MPI Demonstrator was built at the SARAO site in the Meerkat National Park in South Africa. It provided valuable experience for the MeerKAT Extension project. The commissioning of the SKA MPI Demonstrator was accompanied by the collection of a large amount of wind data acquired from the a nearby weather station. Combined with the servo-relevant measurements such as torques, motor rates, position encoder readouts, and temperatures from different locations, it provided valuable input for characterizing the influence of wind loads on the structure. We present the results of the dynamic analysis of the data collected over several months: wind torque coefficients, as well as supporting friction curves and demonstrate how this information is used in the dynamic simulations
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