The JPL beamwaveguide test facility

Author

Withingon, J.R. ; Imbriale, W.A. ; Withington, P.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

fYear

1991

fDate

24-28 June 1991

Firstpage

1194

Abstract

A 34 m research and development antenna has been built in the NASA Deep Space Network as a precursor to introducing both beam waveguides (BWG) and the Ka-band frequency into the operational network. In support of this activity, a flexible test facility was constructed to study BWG performance parameters. The objectives of the test facility were to: (1) measure and characterize multiple reflector systems used in BWG antennas; (2) verify computer software and software models; (3) characterize BWG components not easily modeled by software; and (4) predict performance of BWG antenna designs. To this end, a 1/4-size model of one-, two-, and three-mirror configurations was built and tested. Excellent correlation between measured and predicted results enabled the full-scale 34 m antenna system implementation to proceed with confidence.<>

Keywords

test facilities; waveguide antennas; 34 m; BWG antennas; JPL beamwaveguide test facility; NASA Deep Space Network; multiple reflector systems; software model verification; Antenna accessories; Antenna measurements; Frequency; NASA; Predictive models; Reflector antennas; Research and development; Software measurement; Software performance; Test facilities;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 1991. AP-S. Digest

Conference_Location

London, Ontario, Canada

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0144-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APS.1991.175061

Filename

175061