National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O Box O, 1003 Lopezville Rd., Socorro, New Mexico 87801-7027

A -- DESIGN, FABRICATION AN INSTALLATION OF PROTOTYPE ANTENNAS FOR THE MILLIMETER ARRAY RADIOTELESCOPE. INFORMATION MEETING FOR POTENTIAL CONTRACTORS DUE 082198 POC Bill Porter, telephone 804-296-0313, FAX 804-296-0278, email bporter@nrao.edu WEB: Millimeter Array Web Site, http://www.mma.nrao.edu. E-MAIL: Business Manager, MMA, bporter@nrao.edu. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), operated by Associated Universities, Inc. undercooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation, will hold an information meeting in Tucson, AZon 22 September, 1998, for companies interested in working on the design, fabrication and installation ofprototype antennas for the Millimeter Array (MMA) Radiotelescope. The MMA is a new instrument, recently approved for a thee year Design and Development phase, which will consist of more than thirty high-performance 10 meter diameter reflector antennas operating at frequencies up to 900 GHz. The instrument will be built at a high-altitude site near the town of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Two prototype antennas will be designed, fabricated and tested prior to beginning the production run of antennas. NRAO will be seeking a prime-contractor to design, fabricate and install the prototype antennas at a test site in New Mexico. The contractor will provide the antenna and its drive system but will not provide any of the receiver electronics. Some of the technically challenging components required for the antenna include highly accurate reflector surface panels, a CFRP reflector backup structure, metrology systems for measuring antenna deformations, high precision angle encoders and a high performance servo-system. Additional information concerning the MMA Project can be found at http://www.mma.nrao.edu. Additional information about MMA antennas can be found at http://www.nrao.edu/~pnapier/mmaprojectbookantenna.htm. This meeting is not a pre-bid nor a procurement meeting. Additional advertisements and public pre-bid meetings will be held once the procurement begins in the first quarter of 1999. The purpose of this information meeting is to acquaint antenna prime-contractors and their major antenna component suppliers with procurement plans for the MMA antennas and with the antenna performance requirements. Presentations will also be given on NRAO's conceptual designs for the antenna. NRAO will be pleased to receive comments from companies on any of the information presented at the meeting. Companies wishing to attend this information meeting must RSVP to W. Porter, Business Manager, MMA, by fax, e-mail, or in writing at the address listed above. The RSVP must be received no later than 1700 (EDT) on21 August, 1998. The location of the meeting in Tucson, AZ will be provided to responding companies in early September, 1998, along with additional information and capabilities questionnaire. Suppliers are requested tolimit the number of attendees to 2 (two) per company. The meeting will commence at 0900 (Tucson time) andis expected to last at least 3 to 4 hours. Posted 08/04/98 (W-SN232680). (0216)

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