Summary

It is essential for any group developing astronomical observing instruments to do so with ambitious scientific goals in mind and with the aim to operate them at the most appropriate telescopes on the best sites. While the 12 m APEX telescope has become a great challenge and opportunity for the bolometer group of the MPIfR, it is also clear that the IRAM 30 m telescope is still at high priority since it remains a unique, powerful instrument for millimeter astronomy. Because of its large field of view, APEX will drive the development of large format arrays, a development from which the IRAM 30 m telescope could profit. The MPIfR, together with the University of Bochum and the Institute for Physical High-Technology in Jena, were funded by the BMFT (German Federal Ministry for Researsch and Technology) to build a 313-element, superconducting bolometer array camera, the ``Large APEX Bolometer Camera'' (LABOCA). LABOCA will operate in the 0.87 mm atmospheric window, and will use superconducting transition edge sensor detectors with SQUID readout. We envision that a similar instrument working at 1.2 mm could be provided for the IRAM 30 m telescope after LABOCA becomes operational. At 1.2 mm the 30 m telescope would however be limited to a smaller number of elements because of the field limitation by the Nasmyth mirrors. Aiming for maximum commonality between the instruments, the additional resources that would be required to supply both telescopes with the largest possible, state-of-the-art bolometer arrays would be moderate. In addition, the MPIfR could provide the IRAM 30 m telescope with smaller arrays operating at 0.87 mm and 2 mm.