Measurement of a Weak Satellite Beacon Level at 27.5 GHz with a Dual Circular Antenna Array [Measurements Corner]

Author

Letschnik, J. ; Enke, H. ; Schurig, F. ; Schelde, L. ; Walter, U.

Author_Institution

LSE Space GmbH, Wessling, Germany

Volume

56

Issue

5

fYear

2014

fDate

Oct. 2014

Firstpage

174

Lastpage

183

Abstract

The rapid increase of available Ka-band and Ku-band transponders in orbit proves that these frequency bands will be in common use in the near future. However, compared to the Ku band and lower frequencies, Ka-band transmission is much more sensitive to atmospheric moisture. To determine its impact, we have measured the beacon (27.5 GHz) signal of the communication satellite KA-SAT with high precision on the ground. In this paper, we describe and discuss the concept and the results of our measurements.

Keywords

antenna radiation patterns; microwave antenna arrays; millimetre wave antenna arrays; multifrequency antennas; satellite antennas; satellite communication; transponders; KA-SAT beacon signal measurement; Ka-band transmission; Ka-band transponder; Ku-band transponder; atmospheric moisture; communication satellite beacon signal measurement; dual circular antenna array; frequency 27.5 GHz; Antenna measurements; Couplers; Extraterrestrial measurements; Horn antennas; Planar arrays; Radio frequency; Satellite antennas; Satellite broadcasting; Satellite antennas; horn antennas; measurement techniques; planar arrays; satellite communication;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1045-9243

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MAP.2014.6971938

Filename

6971938