HartRAO Home > news > New Crane for HartRAO 2008/04/10
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The Hi-ranger ("cherrypicker") that has been in use at Hartebeesthoek since it opened as a NASA tracking station in 1961 ran out of useful life in 2006. A replacement has been built for HartRAO that is much more versatile, able to function both as a crane and as a people lifter. It will be used for work on the original 26m telescope, the 15m XDM prototype telescope for the Karoo Array Telescope project, and C-BASS, the 7.5m antenna intended for mapping the sky at 5GHz. Project manager for the new vehicle was Pieter Stronkhorst, who is relieved that its long gestation period is finally over.
The new crane/hi-lifter is seen above on arrival on 2008/04/10, in front of the 26m telescope.
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The crane/hi-lifter was immediately put to use. It is seen above being used to work on the receiver system on the eXperimental Development Model of the Karoo Array Telescope at Hartebeesthoek, on 2008/04/14.