Radio-quiet zone makes noise
SA is competing with Australia to host the SKA, which will be the world’s most powerful radio telescope.
It hopes to build the telescope on a remote farm near Carnarvon in Northern Cape, and has drafted the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Bill to protect the site from radio interference.
The bill contains measures to protect from electromagnetic interference regions the government deems important for astronomy.
In addition to minimising radio interference near the SKA, the bill also aims to limit light pollution in Sutherland, which is home to the Southern African Large Telescope (Salt), the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere.
Parliament’s portfolio committee on science and technology is holding public hearings on the bill, which was published for comment last year, redrafted, and republished in May.
Transnet’s chief engineer for telecommunications, Danie Botha, on Tuesday warned MPs that the bill would require the transport parastatal to find expensive, alternative technologies to replace the radio equipment it used on its freight trains in Northern Cape.
Transnet’s equipment operated in the 450MHz range, which fell in the range of very faint radio signals the SKA would detect from outer space.
Replacing the radio equipment with GSM technology would cost about R200m over eight years, Botha said, and suggested the state should pay.
Transnet operated three key lines in the region of the proposed SKA site, he said. These included the Sishen-Saldhana line, which generated more than R1bn in revenue a year; the De Aar-Nakop line which transports grain, cement and fuel to Namibia; and the Cape Town-De Aar line, which supports Coega.
The National Association of Broadcasters told Parliament it was concerned the bill gave the science and technology minister powers that had already been accorded to the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa).
It said broadcasters’ licence conditions demanded they provide services to all South Africans, and this suggested this mandate was at odds with the bill’s attempts to minimise television and radio broadcasts around the SKA site.
SKA project manager Bernie Fanaroff said Icasa had been extensively consulted.
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