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We are developing the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) to detect 21cm emission from the early Universe, when the first stars and galaxies were forming. We describe the overall experiment strategy and architecture and summarize two PAPER deployments: a 4-antenna array in the low-RFI environment of Western Australia and an 8-antenna array at our prototyping site in Green Bank, WV. From these activities we report on system performance, including primary beam model verification, dependence of system gain on ambient temperature, measurements of receiver and overall system temperatures, and characterization of the RFI environment at each deployment site. We present an all-sky map synthesized between 139 MHz and 174 MHz using data from both arrays that reaches down to 80 mJy (4.9 K, for a beam size of 2.15e-5 steradians at 154 MHz), with a 10 mJy (620 mK) thermal noise level that indicates what would be achievable with better foreground subtraction. We calculate angular power spectra ($C_\ell$) in a cold patch and determine them to be dominated by point sources, but with contributions from galactic synchrotron emission at lower radio frequencies and angular wavemodes. Although the cosmic variance of foregrounds dominates errors in these power spectra, we measure a thermal noise level of 310 mK at $\ell=100$ for a 1.46-MHz band centered at 164.5 MHz. This sensitivity level is approximately three orders of magnitude in temperature above the level of the fluctuations in 21cm emission associated with reionization.

Experiments were performed with prototype antenna tiles for the Mileura Widefield Array--Low Frequency Demonstrator (MWA-LFD) to better understand the widefield, wideband properties of their design and to characterize the radio frequency interference (RFI) between 80 and 300 MHz at the site in Western Australia. Observations acquired during the six month deployment confirmed the predicted sensitivity of the antennas, sky-noise dominated system temperatures, and phase-coherent interferometric measurements. The radio spectrum is remarkably free of strong terrestrial signals, with the exception of two narrow frequency bands allocated to satellite downlinks and rare bursts due to ground-based transmissions being scattered from aircraft and meteor trails. Results indicate the potential of the MWA-LFD to make significant achievements in its three key science objectives: epoch of reionziation science, heliospheric science, and radio transient detection., Accepted by AJ. 17 pages with figures