Improved performance of the Goonhilly satellite-communication Earth-station aerial system

The improvements which were required to enable the Goonhilly satellite-communication earth station to work with the Early Bird satellite have been achieved by providing a new parabolic reflector surface of greatly increased accuracy, a new design of feed giving greater illumination efficiency, and reduced blocking and scattering from the feed support structure itself. The feeder losses between the feed and the transmitting/receiving equipment have been reduced by using near-square-section overmoded waveguides. The overall improvements are about 4.5 dB in the figure of merit (G/T) for reception at 4Gc/s and 6.8dB in the transmitting gain at 6Gc/s.