The new ultra low noise diplexed X-band microwave feed for NASA 70-m antennas

Author

Manshadi, F.

Author_Institution

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

Volume

5

fYear

2000

fDate

2000

Firstpage

73

Abstract

This paper describes the configuration, detail design, and performance of a new ultra low noise diplexed X-band microwave feed system, called X/X diplexing feed, for the Deep Space Network 70-m antennas. In this microwave feed, the uplink signal is combined with the downlink signal in a diplexing junction placed near the input of a wide-band feedhorn. This configuration allows the majority of the components in the downlink path to be placed in a cryogenically cooled container, resulting in a drastic reduction in the loss (noise temperature) of the feed. Combined with low noise HEMT amplifiers, this feed provides the lowest noise diplexed feed in the DSN. The total noise temperature of the 70-m antennas with this feed is estimated to be 16.1 K

Keywords

antenna feeds; horn antennas; microwave antennas; multiplexing equipment; satellite antennas; 70 m; Deep Space Network antennas; X/X diplexing feed; cryogenically cooled container; dichroic mirror; diplexing junction; downlink signal; low-noise HEMT amplifiers; ultralow noise diplexed X-band microwave feed; uplink signal; wide-band feedhorn; Antenna feeds; Broadband amplifiers; Containers; Downlink; HEMTs; Microwave antennas; NASA; Noise reduction; Temperature; Wideband;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference Proceedings, 2000 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

ISSN

1095-323X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5846-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2000.878474

Filename

878474