Initial tests of an AC dipole for the Tevatron

The AC dipole is a device to diagnose transverse motions of a beam. It can achieve large-amplitude oscillations without two inevitable problems of conventional kicker/pinger magnets: decoherence and emittance growth. While not the first synchrotron to operate with an AC dipole, the Tevatron can now make use of its recently upgraded BPM system, providing unprecedented resolution for use with an AC dipole, to measure both linear and nonlinear properties of the accelerator. Plans are to provide AC dipole systems for both transverse degrees of freedom. Preliminary tests have been done using an audio power amplifier with an existing vertical pinger magnet, producing oscillation amplitudes up to 2σ at 150 GeV. In this paper, we will present the configuration of this system. We also show the analysis of a first few data sets, including the direct measurement of beta functions at BPM locations