A Dedicated Pulsar Timing Array Telescope (a.k.a. "Pulsar Town") ngVLA Memo #34

As part of the transition plan from the VLA to the ngVLA, we describe re-purposing the VLA antennas for a dedicated Pulsar Timing Array Telescope (PTAT). The VLA antennas and supporting systems would be retrofitted with ngVLA technology with two purposes: (1) reduce system complexity to allow the operation of the array for a fraction of current costs, and (2) improve the instantaneous bandwidth and sensitivity of the instrument for this use case. Proposed changes could allow the PTAT to be supported for a fraction (goal of 1/5 to 1/10) of the current VLA operations cost, while providing the U.S. pulsar community with a dedicated instrument with ∼ 1.5x GBT continuum sensitivity at f c of 1.5 GHz. Depending on the deployment schedule, such an instrument could bridge the pulsar community to the ngVLA. It could also complement pulsar timing observations on the ngVLA by providing lower frequency coverage, and increased telescope time on bright sources.