Millstone Hill Radar Propagation Study: Calibration.
Abstract
The report describes the work conducted to obtain a precise calibration of the tracking system at UHF and at L-band. The method finally employed entailed the measurement of the mechanical position of the antenna (elevation, azimuth, platform tilt) with great accuracy, together with tracking exercises to relate the RF and mechanical axes of the antenna. For the L-band radar the latter included observations of bright radio stars and numerous passes of the same (Navy Navigation System) satellites that could be combined to give a precise orbit. Calibration of the UHF beacon tracker was necessary to remove the dependence on the polarization of the received signals in addition to the expected errors (beam offsets and beam droop). This was achieved through describing the effects by models whose free parameters were determined by comparing the observed position of the satellite beacons with the true position determined from the L-band radar multipass solutions. Of necessity, this calibration had to be conducted using only nighttime satellite tracking data in order to minimize bias errors introduced by ionospheric refraction. (Modified author abstract)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 05, 1973
- Accession Number
- AD0779689
Entities
People
- John V. Evans
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology