Initial results from the 12, 20, and 30 GHz OLYMPUS propagation experiment in Blacksburg, Virginia

The OLYMPUS satellite has frequency coherent propagation beacons at 12.5, 19.77, and 29.66 GHz. These beacons are visible from Blacksburg, at an elevation angle of 14 degrees . Five receivers were developed: one at each frequency plus a second portable terminal with 20 and 30 GHz receivers for short-baseline diversity measurements. This experiment not only provided valuable data over the 10 to 30 GHz frequency range, but has provided a test bed for hardware and software approaches for the future ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellite) program at 20/30 GHz. The authors present initial results from analysis of early data that shows that radiometer-derived attenuation agrees with beacon-measured attenuation to the fractional decibel level for fading up to 10 dB. Small baseline diversity, as expected, offers no improvement to rain fading, but does for scintillation events. Simple uplink power control algorithms were developed.<>