An analytic study of the performance of electronic tracking feeds in a beam waveguide antenna

Author

Cha, A.G. ; Schredder, J.

Author_Institution

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

fYear

1992

fDate

18-25 June 1992

Firstpage

12

Abstract

The authors present the results of an analytic study of implementing an electronic tracking feed in a beam waveguide (BWG) antenna environment. The emphasis is on a ground antenna supporting a high-data-rate space-to-ground communication (telemetry) link at a distance of several astronomical units. This means that the tracking feed hardware must be designed to provide optimal front-end gain-over-noise-temperature ratio (G/T) in the sum channel. At the same time, it should have high sensitivity in the error channels. Particular reference is made to the NASA/JPL 34-m research and development antenna for the Deep Space Network, which is a BWG antenna.<>

Keywords

antenna feeders; reflector antennas; space communication links; tracking systems; waveguide antennas; Ka-band; X-band; beam waveguide antenna; electronic tracking feeds; ground antenna; high-data-rate space-to-ground communication; performance; reflector antennas; telemetry; Antenna feeds; Antenna radiation patterns; Decision support systems; Ellipsoids; Laboratories; Mirrors; Performance analysis; Reflector antennas; Space technology; Structural beams;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 1992. AP-S. 1992 Digest. Held in Conjuction with: URSI Radio Science Meeting and Nuclear EMP Meeting., IEEE

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0730-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APS.1992.222018

Filename

222018