<p>The right side of the <a href="https://public.nrao.edu/vla-configurations/" rel="noreferrer">configurations page you linked to</a> has a list of configurations across the various observing semesters. Clicking the entry for a certain configuration changes the map to that configuration, showing the locations of the antennas.</p>
<p>If you need more precision, the Wayback Machine has pdfs for configurations, at least as they appeared at moments in previous years:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220401105059/https://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf" rel="noreferrer">A</a>, from 3/24/22</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230125192205/https://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf" rel="noreferrer">B</a>, from 1/12/23</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221130164154/https://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf" rel="noreferrer">C</a>, from 10/12/22</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220811052305/https://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf" rel="noreferrer">D</a>, from 7/21/22</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-24T00:20:52.387Z
I understand what you mean, but that only tells me what sites are active, and there are sites that I don't know the distance from the center point.  And that distance is important.  And I'd rather not rely on things like google maps for measuring distances.
Peter M
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-24T00:22:45.100Z
@PeterM Do you need to know the distance to a very high degree of precision? (For photography, I'm not sure that matters. . .) If not, you can just change the configuration and estimate based on the scale provided by the map
HDE 226868
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-24T00:27:22.277Z
The VLA obviously has the data I want *somewhere*.   In lieu of actually seeing that data your method would be sufficient (and if I'd connected the dots I wouldn't have asked this question).  But now I'm wondering if the Internet wayback machine has captured those PDFs.
Peter M
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-24T00:31:17.910Z
OMG the wayback machine has captured the PDFs
Peter M
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-24T00:15:16.720Z
2024-09-24T00:31:53.280Z
2024-09-24T00:31:53.280Z
HDE 226868
<p>The <a href="http://www.vla.nrao.edu" rel="noreferrer">Very Large Array</a> in New Mexico publishes <a href="https://public.nrao.edu/vla-configurations/" rel="noreferrer">here</a> a list of antenna configurations and times that when these configurations are active. From this page there seems to be 5 different configurations:</p>
<p>A, B, C, D, BnA</p>
<p>Currently the antennas are in the BnA configuration.</p>
<p>On this <a href="http://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf" rel="noreferrer">other</a> page (PDF) they list the physical locations of the antennas at the current time.  Right now, this matches the first VLA page in showing that the BnA configuration is in use.</p>
<p>My question is where can I find the physical locations for the A, C and D configurations that would be displayed on the equivalent PDF listing? (I have saved the B location PDF from a previous time).  I know that the actual antennas at each site will change based on what antenna is in service at the time etc., so what I am looking for would be the site locations for each of the configurations.</p>
<p>What I am trying to achieve is to predict the antenna locations along with the position of the sun and the moon at future dates in order to take photos of interesting conjunctions.  I have the sun and moon data I want from <a href="https://photoephemeris.com/" rel="noreferrer">The Photographers Ephemeris</a>, so all I am missing is the antenna location data.</p>
<hr />
<p>I'm surprised there is no tag for the VLA, but there is for the VLT in Chile ¯\<em>(ツ)</em>/¯</p>

<radio-astronomy><radio-telescope>
VLA configuration locations
Peter M
# VLA configuration locations

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-23)

The [Very Large Array](http://www.vla.nrao.edu) in New Mexico publishes [here](https://public.nrao.edu/vla-configurations/) a list of antenna configurations and times that when these configurations are active. From this page there seems to be 5 different configurations:

A, B, C, D, BnA

Currently the antennas are in the BnA configuration.

On this [other](http://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf) page (PDF) they list the physical locations of the antennas at the current time. Right now, this matches the first VLA page in showing that the BnA configuration is in use.

My question is where can I find the physical locations for the A, C and D configurations that would be displayed on the equivalent PDF listing? (I have saved the B location PDF from a previous time). I know that the actual antennas at each site will change based on what antenna is in service at the time etc., so what I am looking for would be the site locations for each of the configurations.

What I am trying to achieve is to predict the antenna locations along with the position of the sun and the moon at future dates in order to take photos of interesting conjunctions. I have the sun and moon data I want from [The Photographers Ephemeris](https://photoephemeris.com/), so all I am missing is the antenna location data.

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I'm surprised there is no tag for the VLA, but there is for the VLT in Chile ¯\*(ツ)*/¯

**Tags:** radio-astronomy, radio-telescope


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-09-24. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

The right side of the [configurations page you linked to](https://public.nrao.edu/vla-configurations/) has a list of configurations across the various observing semesters. Clicking the entry for a certain configuration changes the map to that configuration, showing the locations of the antennas.

If you need more precision, the Wayback Machine has pdfs for configurations, at least as they appeared at moments in previous years:

* [A](https://web.archive.org/web/20220401105059/https://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf), from 3/24/22
* [B](https://web.archive.org/web/20230125192205/https://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf), from 1/12/23
* [C](https://web.archive.org/web/20221130164154/https://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf), from 10/12/22
* [D](https://web.archive.org/web/20220811052305/https://www.vla.nrao.edu/operators/CurrentPos.pdf), from 7/21/22

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I understand what you mean, but that only tells me what sites are active, and there are sites that I don't know the distance from the center point.  And that distance is important.  And I'd rather not rely on things like google maps for measuring distances.  
> **username_1**: @PeterM Do you need to know the distance to a very high degree of precision? (For photography, I'm not sure that matters. . .) If not, you can just change the configuration and estimate based on the scale provided by the map  
> **username_0**: The VLA obviously has the data I want *somewhere*.   In lieu of actually seeing that data your method would be sufficient (and if I'd connected the dots I wouldn't have asked this question).  But now I'm wondering if the Internet wayback machine has captured those PDFs.  
> **username_0**: OMG the wayback machine has captured the PDFs  

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