CARMA Configurations for Cedar Flat Using a 5-Arm Star Array 
Glen R. Petitpas & Lee G. Mundy 
University of Maryland College Park MD, USA 20742 

We present 5-arm star configurations for the CARMA array and compare
with the ``optimized'' configurations proposed by Helfer & Wright 2003 
and Helfer 2003. The 5-arm star provides similar performance to the
purely ``optimized'' array while reducing environmental impacts
by reducing the number of roads that need to be created. It
simplifies construction of roads and cable trenches because of
its five straight arms.  It also provides modest construction
and operational cost savings by allowing more efficient reuse of
antenna pads between arrays (53 compared to 60 for the ``optimized''
array). We are capable of re-creating (within realistic operational
parameters) comparable beam and sidelobe performance as the fully
optimized array. Unfortunately the rigid geometric shape makes it
less adaptable to the asymetric Cedar Flat geography.