be replaced with broadband antennas. This installation will have an effective area much larger than any other remote LOFAR station. If extended to the whole 22000 square meters area of the east–west arm, this single element effective area of 20 standard remote LOFAR stations. The resulting system will provide significant improvement in observation sensitivity. Square Kilometre Array pathfinder The Cross is currently used as a pathfinder for the Square Kilometre Array. The work is focused on studying the amplification and filtering of signals between the LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) output and the analog-to-digital converter input for the SKA. The Medicina Radio Observatory is studying all problems related to "antenna array implementation" through a prototype installation called MAD (Medicina Array Demonstrator). The observatory staff have also built new receiver demonstrators for the SKA called BEST (Basic Element for SKA Training), part of the EU-funded SKADS (SKA Design Studies) programme. The project started in 2005 and finished in 2009. It involved the installation of the new receivers on some reflectors of the north–south section (and later east–west section) of the Northern Cross telescope, along with new analog fiber-optic and coaxial digital finks from the front-end receiver boxes to the back-ends. The BEST project was divided in three parts: BEST-1 – 4 new receivers were installed on a single reflector of the north–south arm. BEST-2 – 32 receivers were installed on 8 reflectors of the north–south arm. BEST-3lo focused on lower frequencies – between 120 and 240 MHz. Log periodic antennas optimized for 120–240 MHz, along with 18 receivers were installed on part of the east–west arm. Space debris tracking There is an ongoing effort to use the 32-meter dish as a receiver for radar-based tracking of artificial satellites and space debris in Earth orbit. The system functions as a bistatic radar, where an emitter located in a different location sends a signal, which bounces off objects in orbit and the echo is picked up by a receiver. The 32-meter dish acts as a receiver, while usually the Yevpatoria 70 meter located in Crimea, functions as a transmitter. The systems can either actively track debris to determine their orbit more precisely or utilize a technique called beam park, where the transmitting and receiving antennas are kept fixed at a given position and the debris pass in and out of the observed area. The measurements obtain through such a system can be used to