Therefore we strongly advocate the deployment of outrigger stations for use during 3-km array observations. Frequency synthesis may be employed to fill in the the uv domain more uniformly. Note that outrigger configurations would be possible on the Chajnantor site. We favor the BIMA approach. The BIMA antennas have therefore been used routinely for solar observations with no degradation in performance.
Thermal gradients are also an important concern.
These may be largest when pointing directly at the Sun. Although a detailed study must be carried out, a CFRP backstructure may be needed to reduce thermal gradients and their effects. However, if performance at submm-wavelengths is supported, a CFRP backstructure may be needed anyway. The correlator must provide sufficient delay to accomodate long baselines. These dump times would generally be employed for continuum work.