Synthesis and analysis of the Sardinia Radio Telescope BWG system for TT&C capabilities using a Gaussian Beam approach

This paper presents the preliminary design of the Beam Waveguide (BWG) system of the 64-m diameter paraboloidal reflector antenna Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT). The project is aimed at providing the antenna with Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C) capabilities in order to support present and future deep-space missions. The synthesis of the BWG layout has been carried out according to the Gaussian Beam theory, which represents a reasonable compromise between accuracy of the results and computational time to set up the initial specifications of large reflector antennas. According to this assumption, the best design parameters of the antenna feeding system have been achieved through an accurate optimization analysis and verified by Physical Optics simulations. The proposed BWG architecture and the corresponding simulated antenna performance are shown in this paper.