Radio frequency self-interference from a data processing centre at a radio telescope site

Apart from externally generated Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), the occurrence of self-interference is a major concern at any modern radio telescope site. Antenna servo motor controllers, data acquisition processors, and fast computing capabilities operate very close to extremely sensitive and wideband radio astronomical receivers. In this paper, we present a set of measurements of the RFI level generated by a cluster of computers that will be installed at the site of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT). The measured levels are compared to Recommendation ITU-R RA.769-2, which gives the threshold levels for interference detrimental to radio astronomy observations. Our analysis shows that, with proper shielding of the noisiest devices, it will be possible to preserve the present excellent RFI conditions of the SRT site.