REC-Mx is part of the global e-Callisto solar spectrometer network. The Callisto spectrometer is a programmable heterodyne receiver designed in 2006 by Christian Mosntein of the Radio Astronomy group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH-Z).

REC-Mx has stations located in the states of Michoacán, Nuevo León, Chiapas, and Baja California. These monitor the 45-90 MHz band (MEXICO-LANCE, MEXICO-FCFM-UNACH, MEXICO-UANL-INFIERNILLO, and MEXICO-ENSENADA-UNAM) and the 45-220 MHz band (MEXART and MEXICO-FCFM-UANL) at 200 frequency channels and with a temporal resolution of 4 samples per second. The former use LWA (long-wavelength antenna) crossed dipole antennas and a quadrature power coupler that allows for the discrimination of circular polarizations received by the crossed dipoles. On the other hand, the antennas monitoring the 45-220 MHz band use logarithmically spaced log-periodic antennas.

Technical Characteristics

MEXICO-LANCE, MEXICO-FCFM-UNACH, MEXICO-UANL-INFIERNILLO, MEXICO-ENSENADA-UNAM

Antenna System: Two crossed dipole antennas with active balun. Each element is 1.5 m long x 0.8 m wide.
Design Frequency: 5 to 90 MHz.
Dipole Impedance: 100 Ohms. One active balun called Front End Electronic (FEE).
FEE Total Gain: 35 dB.
Noise Figure: 2.7 dB.
FEE Operating Frequency: 500 kHz to 115 MHz.
Element Polarization: Circular, Right, and Left. Gain: 5-8 dBi from 24 MHz to 105 MHz.
Half-power beamwidth (3 dB) in the E plane: Omnidirectional.
Half-power beamwidth (3 dB) in the H plane: 90°.
Impedance: 50 Ohms.

MEXART y MEXICO-FCFM-UANL

Antena: Antenna: Logo-periodic antenna, model CPL5130-1N, logarithmically spaced..
Operating Frequency: 50-1300 MHz..
Horizontally polarized..
Gain: 10 ~ 12 dBi.
Beamwidth at medium power (3 dB): 60°.
Front-Back Ratio: 15 dB.
Impedance: 50 Ohms.
Boom Length: 2.0 meters

Callisto Heterodyne Receiver

Frequency Range: 45-870 MHz
Frequency Resolution: 62.5 kHz
Intermediate frequencies.
1st IF: 36.15 MHz, bandwidth: 7 MHz.
2nd IF: 10.7 MHz, bandwidth: 300 kHz.
Observation bandwidth: 300 kHz.
Input impedance: 50 Ohms.
Dynamic range: -120 @ -10 dBm.
Spurious-free dynamic range: 40 dB.
Noise figure: < 10 dB.
Sampling rate/channel: 800 channels/sec typical and 200 channels in 250 ms.
Number of channels: up to 400.
Integration time: 1 ms
Logarithmic detector: 25.4 mV/dB
ADC resolution: 10 bits.

Power Couplers Quadrature (LWAPC-Q) and non-quadrature (LWAPC)

Frequency range: 10-100 MHz.
Insertion loss: 3.0 dB +/- 0.5 dB.
Return loss: > 20 dB.
Port-to-port isolation: > 20 dB.
Port-to-port phase shift: 90° +/- 3°.
Input voltage: 15 to 17 Vdc.
N-type input connectors (female).

Responsible Scientist

Dr. Ernesto Aguilar Rodríguez

Working Team

1. Instituto de Geofísica, Unidad Michoacán, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IGUM-UNAM).

- Dr. Ernesto Aguilar Rodríguez
- Dr. Juan Américo González Esparza
- Ing. Ernesto Andrade Mascote
- M.C. Pablo Villanueva Hernández

2. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (FCFM-UANL)

- Ing. Iván Antonio Peralta Mendoza
- Dra. Esmeralda Romero Hernández
- Dr. Eduardo Pérez Tijerina

3. Facultad de Ciencias en Física y Matemáticas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (FCFM-UNACH)

- Dra. Karen Salomé Caballero Mora
- Dr. Roberto Arceo Reyes
- Dr. Hugo de León Hidalgo

4. Instituto de Astronomía, Sede Académica Ensenada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IA-Ensenada-UNAM)

- Dr. Julio César Ramírez Vélez
- Dr. Joel Humberto Castro Chacón