Feeds, Planning the First Upgrade and the Transfer to the NSF

Over the second half of the 1960s there were three issues which would determine the future of the AIO: developing efficient line feeds, including a dual polarization 430 MHz feed, the development of plans to upgrade the telescope’s reflector to allow operation at frequencies up to 3 GHz, and the future organization of the observatory’s management and funding source(s). These were all intertwined. No institution was going to fund the upgrading of the telescope’s reflector until Cornell demonstrated that efficient feeds could be produced. ARPA’s interest in funding the non-ionospheric programs at the AIO was waning and another source of funding was needed, either the National Science Foundation or NASA. However, NSF’s participation in the upgrading of the reflector and/or taking over the management and funding of Arecibo was dependent on a demonstration that a successful radio astronomy feed could be constructed.