TABLE OF CONTENTS

17. 1 Space Communication Antenna Systems

17.1.1 Antenna Systems for Satellites
17.1.2 Antenna Systems for Earth-Moon-Earth (EME)

17.2 Circularly Polarized Antennas

17.2.1 Crossed Linear Elements
17.2.2 The Eggbeater Antenna
17.2.3 The Turnstile Antenna
17.2.4 The Lindenblad Antenna
17.2.5 The Quadrifilar Helix (QFH)
17.2.6 Helical Antennas

17.3 Yagi Arrays

17.3.1 Arrays for Satellites
17.3.2 Arrays for EME

17.4 Parabolic Reflector (Dish) Antennas

17.4.1 Dish Antenna Basics
17.4.2 Dish Antenna Construction
17.4.3 Dish Feeds
17.4.4 Dish Antennas for Satellites
17.4.5 C-Band TVRO Dishes
17.4.6 A 12-Foot Stressed Parabolic Dish

17.5 Weatherproofing Relays and Preamplifiers

17.6 Antenna Position Control

17.6.1 Position Controllers
17.6.2 Elevation Control

17.7 Bibliography

Antenna Fundamentals   1-1

 Chapter 17
Antennas for Space
Communications

When we consider amateur space communications, we chapter has been rearranged by antenna type and then
usually think about two basic modes: satellite and Earth- specific requirements for each type of operation are
Moon-Earth (EME — also referred to as moonbounce). At discussed.
their essence, both modes communicate using one of the Material in this chapter has been contributed by sev-
Earth’s satellites — our natural satellite (the Moon) or one eral authors. Dick Jansson, KD1K, developed satellite-
of a variety of man-made satellites. (Antennas for meteor related topics while the EME material is largely the work of
scatter modes are covered in the VHF and UHF Antenna Dave Hallidy, K2DH and Joe Taylor, K1JT. References to
Systems chapter.) The distances involved and the motion of KD1K also include material contributed with the call sign
the targets place special requirements on antennas for both WD4FAB, Jansson’s previous call sign. Wherever possible,
types of communications as discussed in this chapter. designs referenced or illustrated in the text are also listed in
Because of technological advances, particularly regard- the Bibliography. For additional information on construct-
ing new digital modes that allow communications with ing antennas, feeds and equipment techniques for use at
extremely weak signals, the traditional distinction between microwave frequencies, see the ARRL and RSGB books
antenna systems for satellite communications and for listed in the Bibliography. All of these books provide a
EME communications has become blurred. Thus, this wealth of information for the experimenter.

17.1 Space Communication Antenna Systems

There are two main differences between the Moon and not a very good one at that, since it has a craggy and rather
man-made satellites in orbits closer to the Earth. The first irregular surface, at least when compared to a flat mirror-like
is one of distance. The Moon is about 250,000 miles from surface that would make an ideal reflector. Signals scattered
Earth, while man-made satellites in highly elliptical orbits by the Moon’s irregular surface are thus weaker than those
can be as far as 52,000 miles away. This 5:1 difference in for better reflecting surfaces. By comparison, a man-made
distance makes a huge difference in the signals that arrive at satellite is an active system, where the satellite receives the
the satellite, since transmission loss varies as the square of the signal coming from Earth, amplifies it and then retransmits
distance. In other words, the signal arriving at the Moon is the signal (usually at a different frequency) using a high-gain
20 dB weaker than that arriving at a geosynchronous satellite antenna. Think of a satellite as an ideal reflector, with gain.
25,000 miles high, due to distance alone. The net result of these differences between a man-made
The second difference between the Moon and a man- satellite and the Earth’s natural satellite is that moonbounce
made satellite is that the Moon is a passive reflector — and (EME) operation challenges the station builder considerably
Antennas for Space Communications   17-1
more than satellite operation, particularly in the area of an- Contacts can be made via FM LEO satellites with a
tennas. Successful EME requires higher transmitting power basic dual-band VHF/UHF FM transceiver. Some amateurs
and receiver sensitivity, along with sophisticated computer manage to work the FM birds with hand-held radios and a
software for digital modes or an excellent operator capable multielement directional antenna such as the popular Arrow
of pulling weak analog signals out of the noise. Antenna shown in Figure 17.1A. Of course, this means they
There are areas of commonality between satellite must aim their antennas at the satellites, even as they cross
and EME antenna requirements, of course. Both require overhead. Other operators have even had success using an
consideration of the effects of polarization and elevation FM hand-held radio with the stock “rubber duck” antenna
angle, along with the azimuth directions of transmitted and although the extended flexible antenna as shown in Figure
received signals. High-performance Yagi arrays or helical 17.1B provides for a better signal.
antenna systems designed for satellite operation will likely High-quality omnidirectional antennas for LEO service
suffice to make EME contacts using digital modes such as come in quite a number of forms and shapes. M2 Enterprises
those of the WSJT software suite (www.physics.princeton. EB-144 and EB-432 Eggbeater antennas have proven to be
edu/pulsar/K1JT). Dish antennas, such as those converted very useful and do not require any rotators for control. See
from commercial C-band (4-8 GHz range) TVRO (television, Figure 17.2. The turnstile-over-reflector antenna has been
receive only) service will certainly suffice for both types of around for a long time, as shown in Figure 17.3.
communication. For even better performance, at the modest cost of a sin-
This chapter will first explore antennas suitable for sat- gle, simple TV antenna rotator, check out the fixed-elevation
ellite operations and then describe the antennas needed for Texas Potato Masher antenna by Gerald Brown, K5OE shown
EME work. in Figure 17.4. This antenna provides a dual-band solution
for medium-gain directional antennas for LEO satellites.
17.1.1 ANTENNA SYSTEMS FOR This is a considerable improvement over omnidirectional
SATELLITES antennas and does not require an elevation rotator for good
Amateur satellites provide links from 2 meters and up performance.
and these provide opportunities to use antennas of many There was still one early LEO satellite operating on the
types — from the very simple to the pretty complex. Antenna 10 meter band as of early 2011; the 1974 AO-7 spontaneously
design and construction requirements for use with amateur
satellites vary from low-gain antennas for low-Earth-orbit
(LEO) satellites to higher-gain antennas for the high-altitude
elliptical-orbit satellites (HEO). The AMSAT website (www.
amsat.org) is a good general resource for antenna and trans-
ceiver design, operating information and satellite parameters.

(A)

(B)

Figure 17.1 — At A, Keith Baker, KB1SF/VA3KSF, uses a Kenwood TH-78A dual-band handheld and a light-
weight Arrow Antenna to make a contact through AO-51 from the shores of Lake Huron in Michigan. When
used with a full-duplex handheld in an open location free of foliage, such as a beach or field, the antenna
provides enough uplink and downlink gain to successfully work the FM birds, even on passes close to the
horizon. (KB1OGF/VA3OGF photo) At B, Kate Baker, KB1OGF/VA3OGF, makes a contact through AO-51 satel-
lite on the shores of Lake Huron in Michigan with her Kenwood TH-78A dual-band HT. The extended flexible
antenna (MFJ Model 1717 from MFJ Enterprises) and about 5 W of uplink power provides just enough gain
on the uplink and downlink to briefly work the satellite on near overhead passes. (KB1SF/VA3KSF photo)

17-2   Chapter 17
 Figure 17.2 — Eggbeater antennas are popular for
base station LEO satellite operations. This M2 EB-432
eggbeater antenna for 70 cm is small enough to put
in an attic. Antenna gain pattern is helped with the
radials placed below the antenna.
Figure 17.5 — Dick Jansson, KD1K, used these 2 meter and
70 cm crossed Yagis for HEO operations. The satellite
­antennas are shown mounted above a 6 meter long-boom
Yagi.

recovered from a battery failure and can be used whenever its

solar panels are illuminated. Its 10 meter downlink covers
29.3 to 29.5 MHz. Low-gain antennas for 10 meters, such as
dipoles or long-wire antennas, are used to receive the signal
from this satellite.
High-altitude Phase 3 satellites such as the now defunct
AO-10 and AO-13 were deployed in the 1980s and another simi-
lar satellite is under development by AMSAT-DL). Ultimately
there may be geostationary satellites for amateur use and the
same requirements would apply as well to them. The greater
distances to these satellites mean that more transmitted power
is needed to access them and weaker signals are received on
Figure 17.3 — The Turnstile Over Reflector antenna has the ground. Successful stations usually require ground-station
served well for LEO satellite service for a number of years.
antennas with significant gain (12 dBi or more), such as a set
of high-gain Yagi antennas. See Figure 17.5.
Satellite S-band (2.4 GHz) downlinks have become very
popular for HEO operations for a variety of reasons:
 Good performance with physically small downlink
antennas.
 Availability of good quality downconverters.
 Availability of preamps at reasonable prices.
A number of people advocate S-band operation, includ-
ing Bill McCaa, KØRZ, who led the team that designed
and built the AO-13 S-band transponder and James Miller,
G3RUH, who operated one of
the AO-40 command stations. Table 17-1
Ed Krome, K9EK, and James Amateur Satellite Band
Miller have published a number Designations
10 meters (29 MHz): H
of articles detailing construc- 2 meters (145 MHz): V
tion of preamps, downconvert- 70 cm (435 MHz): U
ers and antennas for S band. 23 cm (1260 MHz): L
(See Table 17-1 for a list of the 13 cm (2.4 GHz): S
Figure 17.4 — Jerry Brown, K5OE, uses his Texas Potato satellite band designations used 5 cm (5.6 GHz): C
3 cm (10 GHz): X
Masher antennas to work LEO satellites. throughout this chapter.)
Antennas for Space Communications   17-3
 17.1.2 ANTENNA SYSTEMS FOR EARTH- The gains of some nominal antennas of each type are
MOON-EARTH (EME) illustrated graphically in Figure 17.6, which helps to show
The antenna is arguably the most important element in why Yagis are nearly always the best choice for EME on the
determining an EME station’s capability. It is not accidental VHF bands. They are light, easy to build and have relatively
that the baseline station requirements outlined in Table 17-2 low wind resistance. Stacks of four Yagis are small enough
use Yagi arrays on the VHF bands and parabolic dishes at that they can be mounted on towers for sky coverage free
1296 MHz and above. One of these two antenna types is al- of nearby obstructions. Larger arrays of 8, 16 or even more
most always the best choice for EME. Yagis are possible, although the complexity and losses in
phasing lines and power dividers then become important
considerations, especially at higher frequencies. Long Yagis
Table 17-2
are narrowband antennas, usable on just a single band.
Typical Antenna and Power Requirements for We usually think of the linear polarization of a transmit-
CW EME ted signal as being “horizontal” or “vertical.” Of course, on
the spherical Earth these concepts have meaning only locally.
For use with JT65 or other encoded digital modes, subtract As seen from the Moon, widely separated horizontal anten-
approximately 10 dB of gain or power. nas may have very different orientations (see Figure 17.7).
Freq Ant G HPBW TxPwr Therefore, in the absence of Faraday rotation an EME signal
(MHz) Type1 (dBi) (deg) (W)
transmitted with horizontal polarization by station A will
50 4×12 m 19.7 18.8 1200
144 4×6 m 21.0 15.4 500
have its linear polarization misaligned at stations B and C
432 4×6 m 25.0 10.5 250 by angles known as the spatial polarization offset. (Faraday
1296 3m 29.5 5.5 160 rotation is a rotation of the polarization of radio waves when
2304 3m 34.5 3.1 60 the waves travel through the ionosphere, in the presence of
3456 2m 34.8 3.0 120 the Earth’s magnetic field.) In Figure 17.7 the signal from
5760 2m 39.2 1.8 60
10368 2m 44.3 1.0 25
A arrives with vertical polarization at B and at 45° to the
1Example
horizon at C. Suppose C is trying to work A and qs = 45° is
antennas for 50, 144 and 432 MHz are Yagi arrays with
stated lengths; those for 1296 MHz and higher are parabolic the spatial polarization offset from A to C. The return signal
dishes of specified diameter. from C to A will be offset in the opposite direction, that is, by
an amount −qs = –45°. The Faraday rotation angle qF, on the
other hand, has the same sign for trans-
mission in both directions. Thus the net
polarization shift from A to C is qF + qs,
while that from C to A is qF – qs. If qF is
close to any of the values ±45°, ±135°,
±225°, …, then one of the net polariza-
tion shifts is nearly 90° while the other is
close to 0°. The result for stations with
fixed linear polarization will be apparent
one-way propagation: for example, A
can copy C, but C cannot copy A.
Obviously no two-way contact can
be made under these conditions, so the
operators must wait for more favorable
circumstances or else implement some
form of polarization control or polariza-
tion diversity. One cost-effective solution
is to mount two full sets of Yagi elements
at right angles on the same boom. Arrays
of such cross-polarized or “Xpol” Yagis
make especially attractive EME antennas

Figure 17.6 — Representative gains of

practical Yagi antennas, arrays of Yagis
and parabolic dishes as a function of
frequency. Yagi arrays make the most
cost-effective and convenient antennas
for EME on the VHF bands, while para-
bolic dishes are generally the best
choice above 1 GHz.

17-4   Chapter 17
 Figure 17.8 — Array of four 10-element, dual-polariza-
tion 144-MHz Yagis at KL7UW. Alaskan frost makes the
Figure 17.7 — The spherical Earth creates spatial polariza- horizontal and vertical elements stand out clearly. A
tion offsets for well-separated stations with horizon-orient- pair of loop Yagis for 1296 MHz can be seen inside the 2
ed linear polarization. Here, a signal transmitted horizontally meter array.
at A arrived with vertical polarization at B and midway be-
tween horizontal and vertical at C. When combined with
Faraday rotation, offsets close to 45° can lead to apparent
one-way propagation. See text for details. are already in use — for good reason, since most amateur use
of this band is for terrestrial communication — so convert-
ing everyone to circular polarization is impractical. Therefore,
on the VHF and lower UHF bands because they offer a flex- schemes have been devised to physically rotate dish feeds and
ible solution to the linear polarization misalignment prob- even whole Yagi arrays to cope with the resulting polarization
lem. As an example, Figure 17.8 shows the 4 × 10 element, alignment problems. Another scheme is to use a dual-polariza-
dual-polarization EME array at KL7UW. This antenna and a tion dish feed or dual-polarization Yagis, as described above
160-W solid-state amplifier have accounted for hundreds of and increasingly used on 144 MHz. This approach has not yet
EME contacts with the state of Alaska on 2 meters. gained wide popularity on 432 MHz, however.
At 1296 MHz and above, gains of 30 dBi and more can
be achieved with parabolic dishes of modest size. As a result, Antenna Pattern
these antennas are almost always the best choice on these A clean pattern with good suppression of side and
bands. Their structure does not depend on any radio fre- rear lobes is important for all EME antennas — especially
quency resonances, so in many ways dishes are less critical at 432 MHz and above, where excessive noise pickup
to build than Yagis. Element lengths in high-gain Yagis must through sidelobes can significantly increase the system
be accurate to better than 0.005 l, while the reflecting surface noise temperature, Ts. For Yagi arrays you should use mod-
of a dish need be accurate only to about 0.1 l. ern, computer optimized designs that maximize G/Ts, the
A parabolic antenna has a single feed point, so there are ratio of forward gain to system noise temperature. Be sure
no losses in phasing lines or power splitters. You can use to pay attention to maintaining a clean pattern when stack-
a dish on several bands by swapping feeds, and with suit- ing multiple antennas. First sidelobes within 10-15° of the
able feed designs you can produce either linear or circular main beam may not be a major problem, because their solid
polarization, including dual polarizations. A very attractive angle is small and they will look mostly at cold sky when
and convenient option is to transmit in one sense of circular EME conditions are favorable. Side and rear lobes farther
polarization and receive in the opposite sense. Transmitting from the main beam should be suppressed as much as pos-
in right-hand circular and receiving in left-hand circular has sible, however. Remember that even close-in sidelobes will
become the standard for EME at 1296 and 2304 MHz, and degrade your receiving performance at low elevations.
will probably become the standard on higher bands as well. For parabolic dishes, G/Ts is optimized by using a feed
More information about circular polarization is presented with somewhat larger taper in illumination at the edge of
later in this chapter. the dish than would yield the highest forward gain. Best
As made clear in Figure 17.6, the 432 MHz band lies in a forward gain is generally obtained with edge taper around
transition region where both Yagis and parabolic dishes have −10 dB, while best G/Ts occurs around −15 dB. Edge taper of
attractive features. Either four long Yagis or a 6 meter dish can −12 dB is usually a good compromise. Some good repro-
produce enough gain (about 25 dBi) to let you work many other ducible designs for dish feeds are described or referenced
EME stations on this band. Many linear-polarization systems later in this chapter.
Antennas for Space Communications   17-5
 17.2 Circularly Polarized Antennas
Linearly polarized antennas are horizontal or vertical
in terms of the antenna’s position relative to the surface
of the Earth, a reference that loses its meaning in space. If
spacecraft antennas used linear polarization, ground stations
would not be able to maintain polarization alignment with the
spacecraft because of its changing orientation. Thus the ideal
antenna for random satellite signal polarization is one with
circular polarization or CP.
Circular polarization is simply linear polarization with a
direction that continually rotates as it travels through space as
in Figure 17.9. The direction of polarization can be imagined
as the second hand of a watch that is moving forward with the
wave such that the second hand makes one complete revolu-
tion per wavelength traveled. The second hand represents the
instantaneous polarization of the signal.
Figure 17.5 shows a pair of Yagi antennas mounted on
each boom to provide circular polarization. (See the Antenna
Fundamentals chapter for additional background on polar-
ization.) There are several commonly used antennas with
circular polarization described in the following sections. Figure 17.9 — The polarization of a circularly polarized
wavefront rotates around its central axis, either clock-
Polarization Sense wise (right-hand or RHCP) or counterclockwise (left-
hand or LHCP).
Polarization sense is a critical factor, especially in
EME and satellite work. The IEEE standard uses the term
“clockwise circular polarization” for a receding wave (one
traveling away from the observer). Amateur technology fol-
lows the IEEE standard, calling clockwise polarization for a
receding wave as right-hand circular polarization or RHCP.
This means that the second hand of the watch traveling with
the receding wave is revolving clockwise. A wave for which
polarization rotates in the opposition direction is left-hand
circular polarization or LHCP.
When making satellite contacts using a circularly polar-
ized antenna, it is often convenient to have the capability
of switching polarization sense. This is because the sense
of the received signal from some of the LEO satellites re-
verses when the satellite passes its nearest point to you. If
the received signal has right-hand circular polarization as the
satellite approaches, it may have left-hand circular polariza-
tion as the satellite recedes. A sense reversal occurs in EME
communications as well, because of the phase reversal of the
signal as it is reflected from the lunar surface. A signal trans-
mitted with RHCP will be returned to the Earth with LHCP.
Similarly, the polarization is reversed as it is reflected from
a dish antenna so that to transmit an RHCP signal, the feed
antenna for the dish needs to be LHCP.

17.2.1 CROSSED LINEAR ELEMENTS

Dipoles radiate linearly polarized signals and the polar- Figure 17.10 — Evolution of the circularly polarized Yagi.
The simplest form of crossed Yagi, A, is made to radiate cir-
ization direction depends on the orientation of the antenna. If cularly by feeding the two driven elements 90° out of phase.
two dipoles are arranged as horizontal and vertical dipoles, Antenna B has the driven elements fed in phase, but has
and the two outputs are combined with the correct phase dif- the elements of one bay mounted 1⁄4 l forward from those of
ference (90°), a circularly polarized wave results. Because the other. Antenna C offers elliptical (circular) polarization
using separate booms. The elements in one set are perpen-
the electric fields are identical in magnitude, the power from dicular to those of the other and are 1⁄4 l forward from those
the transmitter will be divided equally between the two fields. of the other.

17-6   Chapter 17
 lines to a coplanar pair of crossed-Yagi antennas in which
the elements lie approximately in the same plane, as shown in
Figure 17.10A. One feed line section is 1⁄4 l longer than the
other, as shown in Figure 17.10. These separate feed lines are
then connected in parallel with a common transmission line
to the transmitter or receiver. An example is shown in Fig-
ure 17.11 and Figure 17.12. Assuming negligible coupling
between the crossed antennas, the impedance presented to the
common transmission line by the parallel combination is one
half that of either section alone. (This is not true when there is
mutual coupling between the antennas, as in phased arrays.)
This creates some difficulties for the antenna builder.
With this phasing-line method, any mismatch at one antenna
will be magnified by the extra 1⁄4 l of transmission line. This
upsets the current balance between the two antennas, result-
ing in a loss of polarization circularity. Another factor to
consider is the attenuation of the cables used in the harness,
along with the connectors. Good low-loss coaxial line should
be used with Type N or BNC connectors. A practical con-
struction method for implementing a RHCP/LHCP coplanar
switched system is shown in Figure 17.13.
Another method to obtain circular polarization is to use
Figure 17.11 — This VHF crossed Yagi de- equal-length feed lines and place one antenna 1⁄4 l ahead of
sign by KH6IJ (Jan 1973 QST) illustrates the other. This offset pair of Yagi-crossed antennas is shown
the co-planar, fixed-circularity Yagi.
in Figure 17.10B. The advantage of equal-length feed lines is
that identical load impedances will be presented to the com-
Another way of looking at this is to consider the power as mon feeder, as shown in Figure 17.14, which shows a fixed
being divided between the two antennas — hence the gain of circularity-sense feed. To obtain a switchable-sense feed with
each is decreased by 3 dB when taken alone in the plane of the offset Yagi pair, you can use a configuration as in Figure
its orientation. 17.15, although you must compensate for the extra phase
A 90° phase shift must exist between the two antennas shift added by the relay and connectors.
and the simplest way to obtain this shift is to use two feed Figure 17.10C diagrams a popular method of mounting

Figure 17.12 — Construction details of a co-planar crossed-Yagi antenna.

Antennas for Space Communications   17-7

Figure 17.13 — Co-planar crossed Yagi, circularly polarized Figure 17.14 — Offset crossed-Yagi circularly polarized an-
antenna with switchable polarization phasing harness. tenna-phasing harness with fixed polarization.

two separate off-the-shelf Yagis at right angles to each other. As the pattern rises in elevation, it becomes more and more
The two Yagis may be physically offset by 1⁄4 l and fed in right-hand circularly polarized. Experience has shown that
parallel, as shown in Figure 17.10C, or they may be mounted eggbeaters seem to perform best when reflector elements are
with no offset and fed 90° out of phase. Neither of these ar- installed just below the loops.
rangements on two separate booms produces true circular Eggbeaters can be built relatively easily, but commercial
polarization. Instead, elliptical polarization results from such models such as the one shown in Figure 17.2 are available.
a system, an example of which is shown in Figure 17.16. The spherical shape of the eggbeater creates a fairly compact
antenna when space is an issue, which is another reason why
17.2.2 THE EGGBEATER ANTENNA it is an attractive design. (See this book’s CD-ROM.)
The eggbeater antenna shown in Figure 17.2 is a popu-
lar design named after the old-fashioned kitchen utensil it 17.2.3 THE TURNSTILE ANTENNA
resembles. The antenna is composed of two full-wave loops The basic turnstile antenna in Figure 17.3 consists of
of rigid wire or metal tubing. Each of the two loops has an two horizontal half-wave dipoles mounted at right angles to
impedance of 100 W, and when coupled in parallel they offer each other (arranged like the letter “X”) in the same horizon-
an ideal 50-W impedance for coaxial feed lines. The loops tal plane with a reflector screen beneath. When these two
are fed 90° out of phase with each other and this creates a antennas are excited with equal currents 90° out of phase,
circularly polarized pattern. their typical figure-eight patterns merge to produce a nearly
An eggbeater may also use one or more parasitic reflec- circular pattern. (See this book’s CD-ROM.)
tor elements beneath the loops to focus more of the radiation To get the radiation pattern in the upward direction for
pattern upward. This effect makes it a “gain” antenna, but space communications, the turnstile antenna needs a reflector
that gain is at the expense of low-elevation reception. Toward underneath. For a broad pattern it is best to maintain a dis-
the horizon an eggbeater is actually horizontally polarized. tance of 3⁄8 l at the operating frequency between the reflector
17-8   Chapter 17
 and the turnstile. Homemade turnstile reflectors often use
metal window-screen material that you can pick up at many
hardware stores. (Make sure it is a metal, not plastic, screen
material.)
Like their cousins the eggbeaters, turnstiles are relatively
easy to build. In fact, building one may be your only choice
since turnstiles are rarely available off the shelf.

17.2.4 THE LINDENBLAD ANTENNA

The Lindenblad antenna shown in Figure 17.17A is
constructed from linear elements, is circularly polarized,
and has an omnidirectional radiation pattern. With most of
its gain at low elevation angles as shown in Figure 17.17B,

Figure 17.15 — Offset crossed-Yagi circularly polarized

­antenna-phasing harness with switchable polarization.

(A)

(B)

Figure 17.16 — An example of offset crossed-Yagi circularly

polarized antennas with fixed polarization. This example is Figure 17.17 — The Lindenblad antenna in A has circular
a pair of M2 23CMM22EZA antennas for 1296 MHz, mounted polarization and an omnidirectional azimuthal pattern as
on an elevation boom. shown in B. (AA2TX photo)

Antennas for Space Communications   17-9

it is ideal for accessing Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellites. base-station antenna, such as the 2 meter version in Fig-
Because it is omnidirectional, it does not need to be pointed ure 17.18, it’s hard to beat. The pattern is almost omnidi-
at a satellite, eliminating the need for an azimuth/elevation rectional in both planes, like the mythical isotropic radiator,
(az/el) rotator system. This makes the Lindenblad especially receiving nearly to the horizon. No matter what direction
useful for portable or temporary satellite operations. It is also signals come from, or whether the polarization is vertical or
a good general purpose antenna for a home station because its horizontal, the QFH receives them. It’s good for overhead
circular polarization is compatible with the linearly polarized satellites, such as the International Space Station, for hori-
antennas used for FM/repeater and SSB/CW operation. Two zontally polarized 2 meter SSB simplex stations on the ho-
complete construction articles for Lindenblad antennas are rizon, and also for vertically polarized mobile and repeater
included on this book’s CD-ROM. stations. It isn’t a gain antenna — no true omni can be. The
primary benefit of a QFH is the coverage afforded by its
17.2.5 THE QUADRIFILAR HELIX (QFH) pattern.
Designed for spacecraft use in the early days of space The QFH is often used by hams for receiving weather
exploration, the quadrifilar helix (QFH) antenna (also called satellite pictures from the 137 MHz NOAA automatic picture
the quadrifilar helicoidal antenna) has not gained much transmitting (APT) satellites in low polar orbit. Its omnidi-
popularity on the ham bands. Yet, as a general-purpose rectional and circular polarization characteristics accommo-
date the constantly changing direction and polarization of the
APT satellite signals. Several have been built for this service.
Three of these weather birds still fly by every day — NOAA
15, 17, 18 and 19. (Pictures of these satellites are available at
w6nbc.com.)
The QFH can be envisioned as follows: Take two vertical
full wavelength rectangular loops with open feed points at
the top. Now place them on the same vertical axis, but with
one loop rotated 90° horizontally so that they are in quadra-
ture. Also, you need to make one loop slightly larger than the
­other. This creates a phase shift at the feed point to compen-
sate for the physical rotation of the loops. Next, twist both
loops horizontally a quarter turn into helices. Finally connect
the feed points in parallel to create a quadrifilar helix antenna.
The curious eggbeater-like configuration of the QFH has
useful characteristics — an almost perfectly spherical radia-
tion pattern as well as circular polarization throughout the
pattern. This version is right-handed. For left, twist the loops
in the opposite direction. For the general purpose 2 meter
base station antenna, the twist direction does not matter. And
yes, there is a small loss working linear polarized signals
(vertical or horizontal) with a circularly polarized antenna,
but it is quite acceptable. Commercial broadcast antennas
often use this very technique to accommodate both mobile
(vertical) as well as home antennas (horizontal).
After experimenting ham style with square loops and tall
versus thin rectangular ones, and the small size difference
between the two loops as well as the amount of twist, it has
been concluded that the QFH is a dimensionally tolerant de-
sign. The performance changed little with all these variations.
The antenna shown in Figure 17.18 is described in the
complete construction article by John Portune, W6NBC,
included on this book’s CD-ROM along with another QFH
construction article by Eugene Ruperto, W3KH.

17.2.6 HELICAL ANTENNAS

The axial-mode helical antenna was introduced by Dr
John Kraus, W8JK (SK), in the 1940s. Figure 17.19 shows
examples of S-band (2400-MHz), V-band (145-MHz), and
Figure 17.18 — W6NBC’s Quadrifilar
Helix base station antenna (W6NBC U-band (435-MHz) helical antennas, all constructed by
photo) KD1K for satellite service.

17-10   Chapter 17
 Probably the most common amateur use of the helical
antenna is in satellite communications, where the spinning
of the satellite antenna system (relative to the Earth) and the
effects of Faraday rotation cause the polarization of the sat-
ellite signal to be unpredictable. Using a linearly polarized
antenna in this situation can result in deep fading, but with the
helical antenna (which responds equally to linearly polarized
signals), fading is essentially eliminated.
This same characteristic makes helical antennas useful
in polarization-diversity systems. The advantages of circular
polarization have been demonstrated on VHF voice sched-
ules over non-optical paths, in cases where linearly polarized
beams did not perform satisfactorily.
Another use for the helical antenna is the transmission
of color ATV signals. Many beam antennas (when adjusted
(A) for maximum gain) have far less bandwidth than the required
6 MHz, or lack uniform gain over this frequency range. The
(B) result is significant distortion of the transmitted and received
signals, affecting color reproduction and other features. This
problem becomes more aggravated over non-optical paths.
The helix exhibits maximum gain (within 1 dB) across a
range of more than 20 MHz anywhere above 420 MHz.
The helical antenna can be used to advantage with mul-
timode rigs, especially above 420 MHz. Not only does the
helix give high gain over an entire amateur band, but it also
allows operation on FM, SSB and CW without the need for
separate vertically and horizontally polarized antennas.

Helical Antenna Basics

The helical antenna is an unusual specimen in the an-
tenna world, in that its physical configuration gives a hint
to its electrical performance. A helix looks like a large air-
wound coil with one of its ends fed against a ground plane, as
shown in Figure 17.20. The ground plane is a screen of 0.8 to
1.1 l diameter (or on a side for a square ground plane). The
circumference (Cl) of the coil form must be between 0.75
and 1.33 l for the antenna to radiate in the axial mode. The

Figure 17.19 — At top, a 16-turn S-band helical antenna.

This is about the maximum length of any practical helix.
Note the SSB UEK2000 downconverter mounted behind the
reflector of the antenna. At bottom, a pair of helical anten-
nas for service on 2 meters and 70 cm. The 2 meter helical
antenna is not small! (KD1K photos.)

This antenna has two characteristics that make it espe-

cially interesting and useful in many applications. First, the
helix is circularly polarized with a fixed polarization sense
determined by its configuration. The polarization rotates
about the axis of the antenna.
The second interesting property of the helical antenna
is its predictable pattern, gain and impedance characteristics
over a wide frequency range. This is one of the few antennas
with both broad bandwidth and high gain. The benefit of this
property is that, when used for narrowband applications, the Figure 17.20 — The basic helical antenna and design
helical antenna is very forgiving of mechanical inaccuracies. parameters.

Antennas for Space Communications   17-11

coil should have at least three turns to radiate in this mode. maximum to minimum is the axial ratio.
The ratio of the spacing between turns (in wavelengths), Sl The impedance of the helix is easily predicted. The ter-
to Cl, should be in the range of 0.2126 to 0.2867. This ratio minal impedance of a helix is unbalanced, and is defined by:
range results from the requirement that the pitch angle, α, of
the helix be between 12° and 16°, where: Z = 140 × Cl (Eq 3)
Sl where Z is the impedance of the helix in ohms.
α = arctan (Eq 1)
Cl The gain of a helical antenna is determined by its physi-
These constraints result in a single main lobe along the cal characteristics. Gain can be calculated from:
axis of the coil. This is easily visualized from Figure 17.19. Gain (dBi) = 11.8 + 10 log (Cl2nSl) (Eq 4)
The winding of the helix comes away from the reflector with
a clockwise winding direction for RHCP. (The winding can In practice, helical antennas do not deliver the gain in
also be counterclockwise — this results in a LHCP polariza- Eq 4 for antennas with turns count greater than about twelve.
tion sense.) This will be discussed further regarding practical antennas.
A helix with a Cl of 1 l has a wave propagating from The beamwidth of the helical antenna (in degrees) at the
one end of the coil (at the ground plane), corresponding to half-power points is:
an instantaneous dipole “across” the helix. The electrical ro- 52
tation of this dipole produces circularly polarized radiation. BW = (Eq 5)
Cl nSl
Because the wave is moving along the helix conductor at
nearly the speed of light, the rotation of the electrical dipole The diameter of the helical antenna conductor should
is at a very high rate, and true circular polarization results. be between 0.006 and 0.05 l but smaller diameters have
The IEEE definition, in simple terms, is that when view- been used successfully at 144 MHz. The previously noted
ing the antenna from the feed point end, a clockwise wind diameter of the ground plane (0.8 to 1.1 l) should not be ex-
results in right-hand circular polarization (RHCP), and a ceeded if you desire a clean radiation pattern. As the ground
counterclockwise wind results in left-hand circular polariza- plane size is increased, the sidelobe levels also increase. The
tion (LHCP). This is important, because when two stations ground plane need not be solid; it can be in the form of a
use helical antennas over a nonreflective path, both must use spoked wheel or a frame covered with hardware cloth or
antennas with the same polarization sense. If antennas of op- screen. Cupped ground planes have also been used according
posite sense are used, a signal loss of at least 20 dB results to Kraus. (See the Bibliography.)
from the cross-polarization alone.
As mentioned previously, circularly polarized antennas 50-W Helix Feed
can be used in communication with any linearly polarized Joe Cadwallader, K6ZMW, presented this feed method
antenna (horizontal or vertical), because circularly polarized in June 1981 QST. Terminate the helix in an N connector
antennas respond equally to all linearly polarized signals. mounted on the ground screen at the periphery of the he-
The gain of a helix appears 3 dB less than the theoretical gain lix. See Figure 17.21. Connect the helix conductor to the
in this case, because the linearly polarized antenna does not N connector as close to the ground screen as possible (Fig-
respond to linearly polarized signal components orthogonal ure 17.22). Then adjust the first quarter turn of the helix to a
to it. close spacing from the reflector.
The response of a helix to all polarizations is indicated by This modification goes a long way toward curing a
a term called axial ratio, also known as circularity. Axial ratio deficiency of the helix — the 140-W nominal feed point
is the ratio of amplitude of the polarization that gives maxi-
mum response to the amplitude of the polarization that gives
minimum response. An ideal circularly polarized antenna has
an axial ratio of 1.0. A well-designed practical helix exhibits
an axial ratio of 1.0 to 1.1. The axial ratio of a helix is:
2n + 1
AR = (Eq 2)
2n
where
AR = axial ratio
n = the number of turns in the helix

Axial ratio can be measured in two ways. The first is

to excite the helix and use a linearly polarized antenna with
an amplitude detector to measure the axial ratio directly.
This is done by rotating the linearly polarized antenna in a
plane perpendicular to the axis of the helix and comparing Figure 17.21 — End view and side view of peripherally
the maximum and minimum amplitude values. The ratio of fed helix.

17-12   Chapter 17
 In this case, a strip of thin brass shim stock or flashing copper
can be soldered to the first quarter turn of the helix conduc-
tor (Figure 17.23). This effectively increases the conductor
diameter, causing the impedance to decrease further yet. The
edges of this strip can be slit every 1⁄2 inch or so, and the strip
bent up or down (toward or away from the ground plane) to
tune the line for an optimum match.
This approach yields a perfect match to nearly any coax.
Figure 17.22 — Wrong and right ways to attach a helix to a The usually wide bandwidth of the helix (70% for less than
type N connector for 50-W feed. 2:1 SWR) will be reduced slightly (to about 40%) for the
same conditions. This reduction is not enough to be of any
consequence for most amateur work. The improvements in
performance, ease of assembly and adjustment are well worth
the effort in making the helix more practical to build and tune.

Portable Helix for 435 MHz

Helical antennas for 435 MHz are excellent uplinks for
U-band satellite communications. The true circular polariza-
tion afforded by the helix minimizes signal spin fading that
is so common in these applications. The antenna shown in
Figure 17.24 fills the need for an effective portable uplink
antenna for OSCAR operation. Speedy assembly and disas-
sembly and light weight are among the benefits of this array.
This antenna was designed by Jim McKim, WØCY.
Although the helix is about the most tolerant of any
antenna in terms of dimensions, the dimensions given here
Figure 17.23 — End view and side view of peripherally fed should be followed as closely as possible. Most of the materi-
helix with metal strip added to improve transformer action. als specified are available in any well supplied do-it-yourself
hardware or building supply store.
The portable helix consists of eight turns of 1⁄4-inch
impedance. The traditional l/4 matching section has proved soft-copper tubing spaced around a 1-inch fiberglass tube or
difficult to fabricate and maintain. But if the helix is fed at the maple dowel rod 4 feet, 7 inches long. Surplus solid alumi-
periphery, the first quarter turn of the helix conductor (leav- num shield hardline can be used instead of the copper tubing
ing the N connector) acts much like a transmission line — a if necessary. The turns of the helix are supported by 5-inch
single conductor over a perfectly conducting ground plane. lengths of 1⁄4-inch maple dowel mounted through the 1-inch
The impedance of such a transmission line is: rod in the center of the antenna. For further details, a com-
4h plete parts list and construction information see the CD-ROM
Z 0 = 138log (Eq 6) included with this book.
d
where
Z0 = line impedance in ohms
h = height of the center of the conductor above the
ground plane
d = conductor diameter (in the same units as h).

The impedance of the helix is 140 W a turn or two away

from the feed point. But as the helix conductor curves down Figure 17.24 —
The portable
toward the feed connector (and the ground plane), h gets 435-MHz helix
smaller, so the impedance decreases. The 140-W nominal assembled and
impedance of the helix is transformed to a lower value. For ready for opera-
any particular conductor diameter, an optimum height can tion. (WØCY
photo)
be found that will produce a feed point impedance equal to
50 W. The height should be kept very small, and the diam-
eter should be large. Apply power to the helix and measure
the SWR at the operating frequency. Adjust the height for
an optimum match.
Typically, the conductor diameter may not be large
enough to yield a 50-W match at practical (small) values of h.
Antennas for Space Communications   17-13
 17.3 Yagi Arrays
The Yagis in this section are typical of the high-perfor- communications and contests. The fact that the antennas are
mance designs used for terrestrial communications. For satel- set up for circular polarization (CP) does not really degrade
lite or EME operation, they are often combined into arrays of these other operating activities.
2, 4, 8 or even more antennas with both azimuth and elevation Experience has clearly shown the advantages of using
position control. Designs of such Yagis can be found in the RHCP antennas for both the uplink and downlink communica-
VHF and UHF Antenna Systems chapter or commercial tions. The antennas shown in Figure 17.25 are a single-boom
models are available. RHCP Yagi antenna for U band, a pair of closely spaced Yagi
antennas phased for RHCP for L band (see Figure 17.16), and
17.3.1 ARRAYS FOR SATELLITES a helix-fed offset dish antenna for S band described below.
It is not necessary to use a high-gain Yagi array to ac- The antenna gain requirements for U band can easily be met
cess an LEO satellite except possibly when it is very near the with the gain of a 30-element crossed Yagi. Antennas of this
horizon. Reliable operation via the HEO satellites, however, size have boom lengths of 4 to 4.5 wavelengths. The enter-
requires more gain and Yagi arrays are very popular from prising amateur can build a Yagi antenna from one of several
VHF through 1.2 and 2.4 GHz. references but most of us prefer to purchase well-tested an-
Figure 17.25 shows the satellite antennas at KD1K. The tennas from commercial sources. In the past, KLM (now out
Yagi antennas are used for the U- and L-band uplinks and the of business) had offered a 40-element CP Yagi for U-band
V-band downlink, while the S-band dish antenna is for down- satellite service, and many of these are still in satisfactory
link. These satellite antennas are tower mounted at 63 feet use today.
(19 meters) to avoid pointing into the many nearby trees and U-band uplink requirements have clearly demonstrated
suffering from the resulting “green attenuation.” Of course, the need for gain of 16 to 17 dBic RHCP, with an RF power
satellite antennas do not always need to be mounted high on of less than 50 W PEP at the antenna (≈ 2500 WPEP EIRP
a tower if dense foliage is not a problem. If satellite antennas with a RHCP antenna) depending upon the squint angle. (The
are mounted lower, feed line length and losses can reduced. squint angle is the angle at which the main axis of the satel-
Another benefit, however, to tower mounting of sat- lite is pointed away from your antenna on the ground. If the
ellite antennas is that they can be used for terrestrial ham squint angle is less than half of the half-power beamwidth,
the ground station will be within the spacecraft antenna’s
nominal beamwidth. dBic means the gain of a circularly po-
larized antenna with respect to that of an isotropic antenna
with the same polarization characteristic.)
A gain of 16 to 17 (dB iscotropic-circular) RHCP can
be obtained from a 30-element crossed Yagi — good news,
considering that the satellite may be over 60,000 km (37,000
miles) from your station. Success on U-band uplinks is easier
than those for L band at squint angles wider than 20°. At
squint angles less than 10°, U-band uplink operation can even
be done with 1-5 W power outputs to a RHCP antenna (≈
200 W PEP EIRP with RHCP). These lower levels mean that
smaller antennas can be used. In practice, these uplinks will
produce downlink signals that are 10 to 15 dB above the noise
floor, or S7 signals over an S3 noise floor. The beacon will
give a downlink S9 signal for these same conditions.
Experience with L-band uplinks has demonstrated that
40 W PEP delivered to an antenna with a gain of ≈ 19 dBic
(3000 W PEP EIRP with RHCP) is needed for operations
at the highest altitudes and with squint angles ≈ 15°. The
compact L-band antenna arrangement with two 22-element
antennas in a RHCP array shown in Figure 17.16 is an ex-
ample of such an antenna system.
Figure 17.25 — Details of KD1K’s tower cluster of satellite Using the L-band uplink for HEO operations instead of
antennas including a home-brew elevation rotator. Top to
bottom: M2 436-CP30, a CP U-band antenna; two M2 the U-band uplink allows the use of Yagi antennas that are
23CM22EZA antennas in a CP array for L band; “FABStar” more manageable since their size for a given gain is only one
dish antenna with helix feed for S band; M2 2M-CP22, a third of those for U-band. With L band there is a narrower
CP V-band antenna (only partially shown.) To left of dish
­antenna is a NEMA 4 weatherproof equipment box with an
difference between using a dish antenna and a Yagi, since a
internal 40-W L-band amplifier, and also hosts externally 21- to 22-dBic dish antenna would be only about 1.2 meters
mounted preamplifiers. (KD1K photo) (4 feet) in diameter. However, some of us may not have such

17-14   Chapter 17
 Figure 17.27 — EZNEC Pro elevation pattern for four
14-element 2 meter Yagis (3.6-l boom lengths) at an eleva-
tion angle of 30° above the horizon. The computed system
gain is 21.5 dBi, suitable for 2 meter EME. This assumes that
the phasing system is made of open-wire transmission lines
so that feed line losses can be kept below 0.25 dB.

Figure 17.26 — Domenico, I8CVS, has this cluster of

satellite antennas. Left to right: array of 4 × 23-element
Yagi horizontally polarized for L band; 1.2-meter dish
with 3-turn helix feed for S band; 15-turn RHCP helical
antenna for U band; 60-cm dish for X band. All micro-
wave preamplifiers and power amplifiers are homebrew Figure 17.28 — K5GW’s huge 48-Yagi 2 meter EME array.
and are mounted on this antenna cluster. (I8CVS photo) (Photo courtesy K5GW)

“real estate” available on our towers and may seek the lower array provides approximately 20 dB gain, and an 8-Yagi
wind-loading solution offered by Yagis. Long-boom rod-el- array gives an approximate 3 dB increase over the 4-an-
ement Yagi, or loop-Yagi antennas are commercially offered tenna ­array. Figure 17.27 shows the computed response at
by M2 and DEM, although this band is about the highest for a 30° tilt above the horizon for a stack of four 14-element
practical Yagis. The example shown in Figure 17.16 is a pair 2-meter Yagis, each with a boom length of 3.1 l (22 feet).
of rod-element Yagi antennas from M2 in a CP arrangement At 432 MHz, EME enthusiasts often use 8 or 16 long-boom
with a gain of 18 to 19 dBic. Yagis in an array as seen in Figure 17.8 previously. For
Other amateurs have successful HEO experience with an idea of what a truly large array looks like, the monster
different arrangements. Figure 17.26 shows I8CVS’s 4 × 23 48-Yagi 2 meter array of Gerald Williamson, K5GW, is
element linear array for a 1270 MHz, a 1.2 meter solid dish shown in Figure 17.28.
for 2400 MHz, a 15 turn helical antenna for 435 MHz, and a The main disadvantage of Yagi arrays is that the polar-
60 cm dish for 10,451 MHz This arrangement clearly shows ization plane of the individual Yagis cannot be conveniently
the advantage and accessibility of having a roof-mounted changed. One way around this is to use cross-polarized Yagis
antenna. and a relay switching system to select the desired polariza-
tion, as described in the previous section. This represents
17.3.2 ARRAYS FOR EME a considerable increase in system complexity to select the
Several types of antennas for 2 meters and 70 cm are desired polarization. Some amateurs have gone so far as to
popular among EME enthusiasts. Perhaps the most popu- build complicated mechanical systems to allow constant po-
lar antenna for 144-MHz operation is an array of either larization adjustment of all the Yagis in a large array.
4 or 8 long-boom (14 to 15 dBi gain) Yagis. The 4-Yagi Polarization shift of EME signals at 144 MHz is fairly
Antennas for Space Communications   17-15
rapid, and the added complexity of a relay-controlled cross- The collinear array is an older type of antenna for
polarized antenna system or a mechanical polarization adjust- EME work. A 40-element collinear array has approximately
ment scheme is probably not worth the effort. At 432 MHz, the same frontal area as an array of four Yagis, but produces
however, where the polarization shifts at a much slower rate, approximately 1 to 2 dB less gain. One attraction to a col-
an adjustable polarization system does offer a definite advan- linear array is that the depth dimension is considerably
tage over a fixed one. less than the long-boom Yagis. An 80-element collinear is
Although not as popular as Yagis, Quagi antennas (made marginal for EME communications, providing approxi-
from both quad and Yagi elements) are sometimes used for mately 19 dB gain. As with Yagi and Quagi antennas, the
EME work. Slightly more gain per unit boom length is pos- collinear cannot be adjusted easily for polarity changes.
sible as compared to the conventional Yagi, at the expense From a construction standpoint, there is little difference in
of some robustness. Additional information on the Quagi is complexity and material costs between the collinear and
presented in the VHF and UHF Antenna Systems chapter. Yagi arrays.

17.4 Parabolic Reflector (Dish) Antennas

Very few antennas evoke as much interest among UHF diameter dish built by David Wardley, ZL1BJQ. A smaller
amateurs as the parabolic dish, and for good reason. First, dish used for 1296 MHz operation is shown in Figure 17.30.
the parabola and its cousins — Cassegrain, hog horn and Several aspects of parabolic dish antennas make the extra
Gregorian — are probably the ultimate in high-gain antennas. mechanical problems worth the trouble, however. For ex-
One of the highest-gain antennas in the world (148 dB) is a ample, the dish antenna is inherently broadband, and may be
parabola. This is the 200-inch Mt. Palomar telescope. (The used on several different amateur bands by simply changing
very short wavelength of light rays causes such a high gain the feed. An antenna that is suitable for 432 MHz work will
to be realizable.) most likely be usable on several of the higher amateur bands
Second, the efficiency of the parabola does not change too. Increased gain is available as the frequency of operation
as size increases. With Yagis and collinear arrays, the losses is increased.
in the phasing harness increase as the array size increases.
The corresponding component of the parabola is lossless air
between the feed horn and the reflecting surface. If there are a
few surface errors, the efficiency of the system stays constant
regardless of antenna size.
The major problems associated with parabolic dish
antennas are mechanical ones. For example, a dish of about
16 feet in diameter is the minimum size required for suc-
cessful analog EME operation on 432 MHz. With wind and
ice loading, structures of this size place a real strain on the
mounting and positioning system. Extremely rugged mounts
are required for large dish antennas, especially when used in
windy locations. Figure 17.29 shows the impressive 7-meter

Figure 17.30 — This 3-meter TVRO dish with aluminum

Figure 17.29 — ZL1BJQ’s homemade 7-meter (23-foot) frame and mesh surface was outfitted for 1296 MHz EME as
parabolic dish, just prior to adding 1⁄2-inch wire mesh. a joint effort by VA7MM and VE7CNF. The dual circular polar-
(Photo courtesy ZL1BJQ) ization feed is a VE4MA/W2IMU design.

17-16   Chapter 17
 Another advantage of a dish is the flexibility of the feed 0.45. Offset-fed dishes usually have longer focal lengths,
system. The polarization of the feed, and therefore the polar- with f/D = 0.45 to 0.80. If you attach two small mirrors to the
ization of the antenna, can be changed with little difficulty. outer front surface of a dish and then point the dish at the Sun,
It is a relatively easy matter to devise a system to rotate the you can easily find the focus point of the dish. Put the reflec-
feed remotely from the shack to change polarization. Because tor of the patch or helix feed just beyond this point of focus.
polarization changes can account for as much as 30 dB of An alternate method for finding a dish’s focal length is
signal attenuation, the rotatable feed can make the difference suggested by W1GHZ (ex-N1BWT), who provides a com-
between consistent communications and no communications puter program called HDL_ANT, available at www.w1ghz.
at all. org/10g/10g_home.htm. The method literally measures a
A great deal of useful information on microwave an- solid-surface dish by the dimensions of the bowl of water that
tennas, particularly dishes, is online at The W1GHZ Online it will form when properly positioned. (See www.w1ghz.org/
Microwave Antenna Book at www.w1ghz.org/antbook/ antbook/chap5.pdf.) KD1K used this method on the dish
contents.htm. There are several chapters that are of particu- of Figure 17.31, carefully leveling the bowl, plugging bolt
lar interest to satellite and EME operators. holes, and filling it with water to measure the data needed by
the W1GHZ calculation.
17.4.1 DISH ANTENNA BASICS
The parabolic reflector or dish antenna must have a feed 17.4.2 DISH ANTENNA CONSTRUCTION
source looking into the surface of the dish. Some dishes are There are three parts to the dish antenna — the parabolic
designed so that the feed source is mounted directly in front reflector, the boom and the feed. There are as many ways
of the dish. This is referred to as a center-fed dish. Other to construct this as there are builders so this is an excellent
dishes are designed so that the feed source is off to one side, opportunity for experimentation and adaptation of existing
referred to as an off-center-fed dish, or just offset-fed dish, designs.
as shown in Figure 17.31. The offset-fed dish may be con- As an example, Figure 17.32 is a detail drawing of TJ
sidered a side section of a center-fed dish. The center-fed Moss, G3RUH’s S-band dish antenna. (See the Bibliography
dish experiences some signal degradation due to blockage for the complete article.) You need not slavishly replicate ev-
of the feed system, but this is usually an insignificantly small ery nuance of the design. The only critical dimensions occur
amount. The offset-fed dish is initially more difficult to aim, in the feed system. After construction, you will have a 60-cm
since the direction of reception is not the center axis, as it is diameter S-band RHCP dish antenna with a gain of about
for center-fed dishes but signal blockage caused by the feed
system is essentially eliminated.
The dish’s parabola can be designed so the focus point
is closer to the surface of the dish, referred to a short-focal-
length dish, or further away from the dish’s surface, referred
to as a long-focal-length dish. To determine the exact focal
length, measure the diameter of the dish and the depth of the
dish.
D2
f= (Eq 7)
16d
The focal length divided by the diameter of the dish gives
the focal ratio, commonly shown as f/D. Center-fed dishes
usually have short focal ratios in the range of f/D = 0.3 to

Figure 17.31 —
PrimeStar offset-
fed dish with
KD1K’s helix-feed
antenna. NØNSV
was so pleased
with the modifica-
tion that he re-
named the dish
“FABStar,” and
made a new label!
(NØNSV photo)
Figure 17.32 — Detail of 60-cm S-band dish antenna
with feed.

Antennas for Space Communications   17-17

 20 dBi and a 3-dB beamwidth of 18°. Coupled with the proper
Build a Dish Kit downconverter, performance will be more than adequate for
You can also build a dish antenna from a kit, avail- S-band downlink reception.
able in 1.2-meter and 1.8-meter diameters. One The parabolic reflector used for the original antenna
ingenious design by KG6IAL is available from www. was intended to be a lampshade. Several of these aluminum
teksharp.com. Figure 17.43 shows one of KG6IAL’s reflectors were located in department store surplus. The dish
cleverly designed 1.2-meter dishes with an f/D of 0.30 as is 585 mm in diameter and 110 mm deep, corresponding to
constructed by KD1K. The 1.2-meter dish is fed with a
dual-band patch feed for L and S bands. The 1.8-meter
an f/D ratio of 585/110/16 = 0.33 and a focal length of 0.33
dish is designed for up to three bands using a tri-band × 585 = 194 mm. The f/D of 0.33 is a bit too concave for a
patch feed for the U, L and S bands. This dish will permit simple feed to give optimal performance but the price was
U-band operation. A Central States VHF Society right, and the under-illumination keeps ground noise pickup
(www.csvhfs.org) measurement on a similarly sized to a minimum. The reflector already had a 40-mm hole in the
dish (by WØLMD) with a patch feed showed a gain of center with three 4-mm holes around it in a 25-mm radius
about 17.1 dBic (actual measurement was 12.0 dBd circle.
linearly fed). This performance along with a small V-band
(145 MHz) Yagi would permit a very modest satellite
A small helix is used for the S-band antenna feed as
antenna assembly for all of the VHF/UHF LEO and shown in Figure 17.33. The reflector for the helix is made
HEO satellites. from a 125-mm square piece of 1.6-mm thick aluminum. The
center of the reflector has a 13-mm hole to accommodate the
square center boom described above. The type-N connector
is mounted to the reflector about 21.25 mm from the middle.
This distance from the middle is, of course, the radius of a
helical antenna for S-band. Mount the N connector with spac-
ers so that the back of the connector is flush with the reflector
surface.

Surfacing Materials
The choice of surface materials is a compromise be-
tween RF reflecting properties and wind loading. Aluminum
screening, with its very fine mesh (and weight of 4.3 pounds
per 100 square feet) is useful beyond 10 GHz because of its
very close spacing. This screening is easy to roll up and is
therefore ideal for a portable dish. This close spacing causes
the screen to be a 34% filled aperture, bringing the wind
force at 60 mph to more than 400 pounds on this 12-foot
dish. Those considering a permanent installation of this dish
should investigate other surfacing materials.
Figure 17.33 — Details of helix feed for S-band dish anten- Mesh surfaces are attractive at frequencies up to at least
nas. The type-N connector is fixed with three screws and is
mounted on a 1.6-mm spacer to bring the Teflon molding 5 GHz, because of their light weight and lower wind resis-
flush with the reflector. An easier mounting can be using a tance. Openings in the mesh can be as large as 0.05 l without
smaller TNC connector. Reflectors should be 95 to 100 mm allowing much ground noise to feed through the surface.
in diameter.
Hexagonal 1-inch poultry netting (chicken wire), which
is an 8% filled aperture, is nearly ideal for 432-MHz opera-
tion. It weighs 10 pounds per 100 square feet, and exhibits
only 81 pounds of force with 60 mph winds. Measurement
Using Surplus Grill Dishes on a large piece reveals 6 dB of feedthrough at 1296 MHz,
While many of us enjoy building our own antennas, however. Therefore, on 1296 MHz, one fourth of the power
surplus-market availability of these small dish antennas will feed through the surface material. This will cause a loss
makes their construction unproductive. Many HEO op- of only 1.3 dB of forward gain. Since the low-wind loading
erators have followed the practices of earlier operators material will provide a 30-dBi gain potential, it is still a very
using a surplus MMDS linear-screen parabolic reflector good tradeoff.
antenna as in Figure 17.45 and Figure 17.46. These
grid-dish antennas are often called barbeque-grill
Poultry netting is very poor material for 2300 MHz and
­dishes. K5OE and K5GNA have shown how to greatly above, because the hole dimensions approach 1⁄2 l. As with
improve these linearly polarized reflectors by adapting all surfacing materials, minimum feedthrough occurs when
them for the CP service desired (see wb5rmg.somenet. the E-field polarization is parallel to the longest dimension
net/k5oe). Simple methods can be used to circularize a of the surfacing holes.
linear dish and to further add to its gain using simple Hardware cloth with 1⁄2-inch mesh weighs 20 pounds
methods to increase the dish area and feed efficiency. per 100 square feet and has a wind loading characteristic of

17-18   Chapter 17
 and vertical components which are thus reflected by the cor-
responding wires of the screening. To a horizontally polar-
ized wave, the spacing and diameter of only the horizontal
wires determine the reflection coefficient (see Figure 17.34).
Many amateurs have the mistaken impression that screening
materials that do not make electrical contact at their junctions
are poor reflectors.
2) By measuring wire diameter and spacings between
the wires, a calculation of percentage of aperture that is filled
can be made. This will be one of the major determining fac-
tors of wind pressure when the surfacing material is dry.

Effects of Surface Errors

How accurate must a parabolic surface be? This is a
frequently asked question. According to the Rayleigh limit
Figure 17.34 — Surfacing material quality.
for telescopes, little gain increase is realized by making the
mirror accuracy greater than ±1⁄8 l peak error. John Ruze of
the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, among others, has derived an
162 pounds with 60 mph winds. The filled aperture is 16%, equation for parabolic antennas and built models to verify it.
and this material is useful to 2300 MHz. The tests show that the tolerance loss can be predicted within
There are some general considerations to be made in a fraction of a decibel, and less than 1 dB of gain is sacrificed
selecting surface materials: with a surface error of ± 1⁄8 l. (1⁄8 l is 3.4 inches at 432 MHz,
1) Joints of screening do not have to make electrical 1.1 inches at 1296 MHz and 0.64 inch at 2300 MHz.)
contact. The horizontal wires reflect the horizontal wave. Some confusion about requirements of greater than 1⁄8-l
Skew polarizations are merely a combination of horizontal accuracy may be the result of technical literature describing

Figure 17.35 — Gain deterioration versus reflector error. By Richard Knadle, K2RIW.

Antennas for Space Communications   17-19

Figure 17.36 — Parabolic-antenna gain versus size, frequency and surface errors. All curves assume 60% aperture efficiency
and 10-dB power taper. Graph by K2RIW for amateur bands, using display technique of J. Ruze, British IEE.

highly accurate surfaces. Low sidelobe levels are the primary is doubled. With this information, the gain of other dish sizes
interest in such designs. Forward gain is a much greater con- with other tolerances can be predicted.
cern than low sidelobe levels in amateur work; therefore, These curves are adequate for predicting gain, assum-
these stringent requirements do not apply. ing a high-efficiency feed horn is used (as described earlier),
When a template is held up against a surface, positive which realizes 60% aperture efficiency. At frequencies below
and negative (±) peak errors can be measured. The graphs of 1296 MHz where the horn is large and causes considerable
dish accuracy requirements are frequently plotted in terms of blockage, the curves are somewhat optimistic. A properly
RMS error, which is a mathematically derived function much built dipole and “splashplate” feed (a round disc reflector)
smaller than ± peak error (typically 1⁄3). These small RMS will have about 1.5 dB less gain when used with a 0.6 f/D dish
accuracy requirements have discouraged many builders who than the dual-mode feed system described.
confuse them with ± peak errors. The worst kind of surface distortion is where the surface
Figure 17.35 may be used to predict the resultant gain curve in the radial direction is not parabolic but gradually
of various dish sizes with typical errors. There are a couple departs in a smooth manner from a perfect parabola. The de-
of surprises, as shown in Figure 17.36. As the frequency is crease in gain can be severe, because a large area is involved.
increased for a given dish, the gain increases 6 dB per octave If the surface is checked with a template, and if reasonable
until the tolerance errors become significant. Gain deteriora- construction techniques are employed, deviations are con-
tion then increases rapidly. Maximum gain is realized at the trolled and the curves represent an upper limit to the gain that
frequency where the tolerance loss is 4.3 dB. Notice that at can be realized.
2304 MHz, a 24-foot dish with ±2-inch peak errors has the If a 24-foot dish with ±2-inch peak errors is being used
same gain as a 6-foot dish with ±1-inch peak errors. This is with 432 and 1296-MHz multiple feed horns, the constructor
quite startling, when it is realized that a 24-foot dish has 16 might be discouraged from trying a 2300-MHz feed because
times the area of a 6-foot dish. Each time the diameter or fre- there is 15 dB of gain degradation. The dish will still have
quency is doubled or halved, the gain changes by 6 dB. Each 29 dBi of gain on 2300 MHz, however, making it worthy of
time all the errors are halved, the frequency of maximum gain consideration.
17-20   Chapter 17
 The near-field range of a 12-foot stressed dish is
703 feet at 2300 MHz. By using the Sun as a noise source
and observing receiver noise power, it was found that the
antenna had two main lobes about 4° apart. The template
showed a surface error (insufficient spoke bending at 3⁄4 ra-
dius), and a correction was made. A re-check showed one
main lobe, and the solar noise was almost 3 dB stronger.

SHF EME Challenges for Dishes

The challenges met when successfully building a station
for EME at 900 MHz to 5.7 GHz only become more signifi-
cant on the SHF bands at 10 GHz and above. Absolute atten-
tion to detail is the primary requirement, and this extends to
every aspect of the EME antenna system. The dish surface
is probably the most difficult problem to solve. As was dis-
Figure 17.37 — A seven-turn LHCP S-band dish feed for a
cussed earlier, shape and accuracy of the reflector contribute long f/D offset dish antenna. This helical antenna uses a
directly to the overall gain of the antenna. cupped reflector and has a preamplifier mounted directly to
But where slight errors in construction can be tolerated the antenna feed point. (KD1K photo)
at the lower frequencies, the same cannot be said at millime-
ter wavelengths. Those who have attempted EME on 10 and
24 GHz have discovered that the weight of the dish reflector for low f/D antennas (“deep” dishes) and has shown that
itself will distort its shape enough to lower the gain to the circularly polarized (CP) patch antennas are the preferred
point where echoes are degraded. Stiffening structures at the feed system. When used with high f/D offset-fed dishes, a
back of such dishes are often found necessary. patch-type feed system will result in a considerable spillover,
Pointing accuracy is also paramount. A 16-foot dish at or over-illumination loss, with an increased sensitivity to
10 GHz has a beamwidth about equal to the diameter of the off-axis QRM, due to the f/D of this dish. Offset-fed dishes
Moon — 0.5°. This means that the echo degradation due to do much better when fed with a helix antenna, as shown in
the Moon’s movement away from where the dish is pointed Figure 17.37.
is almost immediate, and autotracking systems become more
of a necessity than a luxury. At these frequencies, most A Helix Feed for an Offset-Dish Antenna
amateurs actually peak their antennas on Moon noise — the This section describes KD1K’s surplus PrimeStar offset-
black-body radiation from the Moon that becomes the domi- fed dish antenna with a 7-turn helical feed antenna shown
nant source of noise in space. in Figure 17.31. This S-band antenna can receive Sun noise
At these frequencies, the elevation of the Moon above 5 dB above sky noise. (Don’t try to receive Sun noise with
the horizon also plays a role in the ability to communicate the antenna looking near the horizon, since terrestrial noise
since tropospheric absorption due to water vapor is great- will likely be greater than 5 dB in most urban and suburban
est at low elevation angles (the signal must pass through a environments.)
greater portion of the troposphere than when the Moon is The dish’s reflector is a bit out of the ordinary, with
highly elevated). It is beyond the abilities of most amateurs the shape of a horizontal ellipse. It is still a single parabo-
to construct their own dishes for these frequencies, so surplus loid, illuminated with an unusual feed horn. At 2401 MHz
dishes for Ku-band (12 GHz) satellite TV (typically 3 meters (S band) we can choose to under-illuminate the sides of
in diameter) are usually employed, as are high-performance the dish while properly feeding the central section, or
dishes designed for millimeter-wave radar and point-to-point over-illuminate the center while properly feeding the sides.
communications at 23 and 38 GHz. KD1K chose to under-illuminate. The W1GHZ water-bowl
measurements showed this to be a dish with a focal point of
17.4.3 DISH FEEDS 500.6 mm and requiring a feed for an f/D = 0.79. The total
Dr Robert Suding, WØLMD, has described the two ma- illu­mination angle of the feed is 69.8°. At 50% efficiency this
jor factors of feeding a dish that determine the efficiency: the antenna was calculated to provide a gain of 21.9 dBi. A 7-turn
feed source should evenly illuminate the entire dish and none helical feed antenna was estimated to provide the needed
of the feed energy should spill over outside the dish’s reflect- characteristics for this dish and is shown in Figure 17.33.
ing surface. No feed system is perfect in illuminating a dish. The helix is basically constructed as described previ-
Losses affect the gain from either under-illuminating or over- ously for the G3RUH parabolic dish. A matching section for
illuminating the dish (spillover losses). Typical dish efficiency the first 1⁄4 turn of the helix is spaced from the reflector at
is 50%. That’s 3 dB of lost gain. A great feed system for one 2 mm at the start and 8 mm at the end of that fractional turn.
dish can be a real lemon on another. A patch feed system is Modifications of the G3RUH design include the addition of
very wide angle, but a helix feed system is narrow angle. a cup reflector, a design feature used by the originator of the
WØLMD has also experimented with helical feeds helical antenna, John Kraus, W8JK (SK). For the reflector, a

Antennas for Space Communications   17-21

2-mm thick circular plate is cut for a 94 mm (0.75 l) diameter UV protection for the plastic bottle and that was done with a
with a thin aluminum sheet metal cup, formed with a depth wrapping of aluminum foil pressure-sensitive adhesive tape.
of 47 mm. Employment of the cup enhances the performance
of the reflector for a dish feed, as shown by K5OE. (See the Patch Feeds for Dish Antennas
K5OE material on the CD-ROM accompanying this book.) Feeds made from patch antennas are almost as simple
The important information for this 7-turn helical as helix feeds. (See the VHF and UHF Antenna Systems
­antenna is: chapter for a discussion of patch and Vivaldi antennas.) A
Boom: 12.7-mm square tube or “C” channel. patch can be practically summarized as building a shape that
Element: 1⁄8-inch diameter copper wire or tubing. resonates at the desired frequency, compensated in size by
Close wind the element on a circular 1.50-inch tube or the capacitive inductance between itself and the reflector.
rod; the finished winding is 40 mm in diameter and spaced to A patch can be practically any shape since it basically acts
a helical angle of 12.3°, or 28 mm spacing. These dimensions like a parallel-plate transmission line. Current in the patch
work out for an element circumference of 1.0 l about the flows from the feed point to the outer edge(s), where all the
center of the wire. radiation occurs. (See the Bibliography for a tutorial on patch
KD1K chose to use PTFE (Teflon) support posts every 1⁄2 antennas provided by Orban Microwave.)
turn. This closer spacing of posts permitted a careful control A patch antenna typically is constructed as an N con-
of the helix-winding diameter and spacing and also made the nector on a flat reflector plate with a tuned flat-metal plate
antenna very robust. He set up a fixture on the drill press soldered to the center terminal. Sometimes the flat plate is
to uniformly pre-drill the holes for the element spacers and square; sometimes it is rectangular; sometimes it is round.
boom. Attachment of the reflector is through three very small It could have two feed points, 90° out of phase for circular
aluminum angle brackets on the element side of the boom. polarization. Some patches are rectangular with truncated
The W1GHZ data for this focal point is 500.6 mm from corners to create a circular radiation pattern.
the bottom edge of the dish and 744.4 mm from the top edge. On 2401 MHz, the radiator plate is 57 mm square and
A two-string measurement of this point can confirm the focal spaced 3 mm away from the reflector. The RF feed point is
point, as shown by W1GHZ in his writings. When mounting about halfway between the center and the edge. A round patch
this feed antenna the builder must be cautious to aim the feed for 2401 MHz is about 66 mm in diameter. These patches
at the beam-center of the dish. Taking the illumination angle work well on the shorter focal length center-fed MMDS
information noted above, the helical feed antenna should be and TVRO dishes. (MMDS means Multichannel Multipoint
aimed 5.5° down from the geometric center of the dish. Distribution Service, also known as wireless cable TV.)
As illustrated in Figure 17.37, a preamp was directly WØLMD has done a considerable amount of experiment-
mounted to the feed helix, using a TNC female connector on ing with patch feeds for his larger TVRO dish antennas. One
the helix, chosen for this case since N connectors are quite tri-band feed is shown in Figure 17.39. These are circular
large for this antenna. A male chassis connector should be patches that have CP properties through the arrangement of
mounted on the preamp so that the preamp can be directly the feed point and a small piston-variable capacitor that is
connected to the antenna without any adaptors.
Exposed connectors must be protected from precipi-
tation. KD1K chose to make a rain cover instead from a
2-liter soft-drink bottle. (See Figure 17.38) Cutting off the
top of the bottle allows it to be slid over the helix reflector
cup and secured with a large hose clamp. You must provide

Figure 17.38 — Rain cover for preamp using a two-liter soft-

drink bottle with aluminum foil tape for protection from Sun Figure 17.39 — A triband (U, L and S bands) patch-CP feed
damage. (KD1K photo) for large dish antennas for HEO service. (WØLMD photo)

17-22   Chapter 17
offset from the feed point.
Some recent satellites have L-band (23-cm) receivers on
1268-1269 MHz. The reasons for using L band can be varied,
but there is no arguing the benefits in reduced antenna size
and AGC suppression. The types of L-band antennas are var-
ied as well. Many use helices. Others use beams and arrays of
beams. Still others use dishes, small and large.
K5OE has done a lot of experimenting with dishes in
the range of 1.2 to 1.5 meters as to what feed schemes work
for both S-band and L-band. This led him to experiment for
months with different configurations, leading ultimately to a
design with:
Good performance on both S-band receive and L-band
uplink.
An easy-to-produce model using common hardware and
simple hand tools.
Patch antennas turn out to be better than helices as dish Figure 17.40 — Dual L-band and S-band patch feed
assembly. (KD1K photo)
feeds as illustrated by the radiation pattern for the G3RUH
patch feed (see www.jrmiller.demon.co.uk/products/
patch.html). When K5OE modeled that pattern and entered
it into the W1GHZ feed pattern program, it produced an
amazing 72% efficiency. The best helix he ever ­modeled
has about 60% efficiency. I8CVS recently ran his
own antenna range tests of a design similar to the
G3RUH patch and produced a similarly impressive
pattern.
The truncated corners square patch design pop-
ularized by K3TZ is attributed to 7N1JVW, JF6BCC
and JG1IIK. There are references in the literature go-
ing back over a decade for this now-common commercial
design. The first model K5OE built outperformed his best
helix-in-cup design by a full S unit of signal-to-noise ratio.
Compared to a helix, the patch simply has better illumination
efficiency with less spillover from sidelobes.
The reputed, but often disputed, circularity of the trun-
cated corner patch is accomplished by effectively designing
two antennas into the patch element (of two different diagonal Figure 17.41 — The K5GNA S-band downconverter assem-
lengths) and feeding them 90° out of phase. The full details of bled to the rear of the patch feed assembly. The L-band con-
K5OE’s work are available at home.swbell.net/k5oe/dual- nector is hidden in this view. (KD1K photo)
patch/dual_patch.htm.
Figure 17.40 shows KD1K’s version of K5OE’s dual-
band patch antenna while Figure 17.41 shows the mounting
of the K5GNA S-band converter and Figure 17.42 shows the
weatherproofing of the feed assembly.
One final design issue deals with the first harmonic of
the L-band antenna. You must significantly reduce the poten-
tially destructive effect from the 1269-MHz signal’s second
harmonic. Severe desense could result and potentially even
overload and damage the first active device in your receive
system. Sensitive preamps and downconverters without a
pre-RF-amplifier filter will need an external filter. K5OE has
used a G3WDG stub filter rated at 100-dB rejection with good
success ahead of his preamp. His current setup, however, uses
the K5GNA supplied AIDC-3731AA downconverter with its
internal comb-line filter providing adequate filtering. Using
the downconverter directly at the feed point has a noise figure Figure 17.42 — The dual-band feed radome cover from the
(NF) of 1.0 dB, compared to the cumulative NF of 1.6 dB Martha Stewart Collection! (KD1K photo)

Antennas for Space Communications   17-23

using a filter and a preamp. have a practical gain of about 21 to 22 dBic. These uplinks
Construction of the feed begins with selection of mate- will provide the user a downlink that is 10 to 18 dB above the
rial for both the electrical parts (the antennas) and the me- transponder noise floor. In more practical terms, these are S7
chanical parts (the support structure). The L-band antenna to 8 signals over an S3 transponder noise floor, making for
is constructed using a 6×6-inch double-sided circuit board very comfortable “armchair” copy.
for the reflector and a piece of 26-gauge copper sheet for KD1K shows in Figure 17.43 what can be done with a
the driven element (patch). A flanged female type-N con- 1.2 meter dish antenna kit for HEO operations. Figure 17.44
nector is used for the feed connection. The S-band antenna shows a WØLMD 8-foot TVRO dish with patch feed, az/el
is constructed of two pieces of 26-gauge copper sheeting mount, a U-band Yagi, and an L-band helical antenna.
and the feed connection is made with a short piece of Other hams have also taken advantage of surplus dishes.
UT-141 (0.141-inch copper-clad semi-rigid coax) termi- Figure 17.45 shows modified MMDS dishes, by K5GNA,
nated in a male SMA fitting. Figure 17.37 illustrates the and Figure 17.46, by K5OE, both using helix feeds.
assembly of the L-band reflector with the nylon-center sup- One very popular spun-aluminum dish antenna in HEO
port bolt, the L-band N connector, and the S-band semi-rigid
coax terminated onto an SMA-to-N adapter through the cir-
cuit board. (See the Bibliography for more on patch feeds.)
17.4.4 DISH ANTENNAS FOR SATELLITES
Dish antennas are not required for satellite operation ex-
cept in the case of HEO satellites operating with microwave
up or down-links. At lower frequencies, Yagi arrays are the
more practical choice.
A 1.2-meter L-band dish antenna and 40 W of RF power
(6100 W PEP EIRP with RHCP) can also provide a superb
uplink for squint angles even up to 25°. A dish antenna can

Figure 17.44 — WØLMD created this 8-foot dish with patch

feed for S band for working HEO satellites. On the left is a
helical antenna for L band and on the right is a 2 × 9-element
offset-feed Yagi for U band. A homebrew az/el mount is pro-
vided. (WØLMD photo)

Figure 17.43 — KD1K’s completed HEO antenna system Figure 17.45 — K5GNA’s “circularized” mesh modification
mounted to the tower and ready to go. The 40 W, 23 cm am- of an MMDS dish antenna with a helix-CP feed and preamp.
plifier is in the box below the KG6IAL 1.2 meter dish. The dish modification reduces the spillover loss by making
(KD1K photo) the antenna fully circular. (K5OE photo)

17-24   Chapter 17
use has been the G3RUH-ON6UG 60-cm unit with its S-band
patch feed shown in Figure 17.47. With a gain of 21 dBic
it provides a 2.5 dB Sun noise signal. Surplus dishes have
not been the only source of antennas for HEO operations —
even cardboard boxes lined with aluminum foil will work as
shown in Figure 17.48! (This interesting antenna was the
subject of the March 2003 QST article “Work OSCAR 40
with Cardboard-Box Antennas!” by AA2TX which is in-
cluded on this book’s CD-ROM.)

Figure 17.48 — The completed high-performance corner-

reflector uplink antenna for U band. Note how the box cor-
ners hold the reflectors and dipole feed in place. The rear
legs set the antenna elevation to 20° — this gives good
coverage at the design latitude but will need modification
for other stations.

17.4.5 C-BAND TVRO DISHES

Since the 1990s, there has been a significant change
in the systems people use to watch satellite TV broadcasts.
Formerly, C band satellite receivers were used, along with
parabolic dish antennas in the 3- to 5-meter diameter range.
Now, Ku-band (12 GHz) receivers are the norm, with their
associated small (usually 18-inch) dish antennas. This has
Figure 17.46 — Mesh modification of an MMDS dish an- provided a large body of surplus C-band dishes, which can
tenna by K5OE, with a helix-CP feed and preamplifier by be used for EME — certainly on the bands at 33 cm and
Down-East Microwave mounted directly to the helix feed above, and for the larger dishes (5 meters), even at 70 cm.
point. (K5OE photo)
Many times, these dishes and their mounts can be had for the
asking so they truly become an inexpensive way to build a
multiband EME antenna.
As an example of how these dishes can be converted
to amateur use, the following sections summarize an article
first presented by David Hallidy, K2DH (ex-KD5RO) in the
ARRL UHF/Microwave Projects Manual describing the use
of a 3-meter (10-foot) TVRO antenna for EME. Additional
photos of other TVRO dish installations are available on this
book’s CD-ROM.

Background
Calculations show that a 3-meter dish will have about
30 dBi gain at 1296 MHz. With a state-of-the-art LNA (Low-
Noise Amplifier or preamp) at the feed, an efficient feed horn
illuminating the dish surface, and 200 W at 1296 MHz, lunar
echoes should be easily detected and many stations can be
worked. The biggest challenges to such a system are assem-
Figure 17.47 — G3RUH’s 60-cm spun-alumi-
num dish with CP-patch feed is available as
bling the dish to its mount and steering it to track the Moon.
a kit. This antenna has been popular with As much as possible, the KISS (“Keep It Simple, Stupid”)
HEO operators all over the world. principle was used to accomplish this task.
Antennas for Space Communications   17-25
 In 1987, WA5TNY, KD5RO, KA5JPD and W7CNK directly below it at the end of the rotating shaft that turns the
proved that such an EME system could work, even as high as antenna, a simple direct-drive system can be constructed.
3.4 and 5.7 GHz, to provide the first EME contacts on those The dc power supply and control relays are located in a
bands. An additional advantage to this (or any) small dish is weatherproof box on the side of the tower, next to the motor.
its ability to be mounted to a trailer and taken out on EME This system requires only 9 V dc at about 5 A to adequately
expeditions. It can also be easily disassembled and stored, if start, turn and stop the prop-pitch motor, and this voltage turns
necessary. the antenna through 360° of rotation in about 21⁄2 minutes.
As can be seen from Figure 17.49, the entire setup is Azimuth position sensing is also a simple task. See
very simple, using a standard amateur tower as the main sup- Figure 17.50. A linear multiturn potentiometer is driven by
port for the dish. the rotating shaft, using a simple friction drive. A strip of rub-
ber is attached to the rotating shaft and a wheel is connected to
Azimuth Drive the shaft of the pot. The pot is then mounted so that it presses
In azimuth, direct drive of the main rotating shaft was se- against the rubber strip, and as the shaft turns so does the pot.
lected, and a small prop-pitch motor was used. These motors, If a 10-turn pot is used, and the system is aligned such that the
while not as plentiful as they were some years ago, still turn pot is at the center of its rotation when the antenna is pointed
up with some regularity at flea markets for very little money. approximately south, the pot will not rotate past the end at
The beauty of the prop-pitch motor is that it turns slowly, is either extreme of the antenna’s rotation (clockwise/counter-
reversible, provides very high torque, and requires no braking clockwise north), and absolute alignment is a simple task of
system (the gear reduction, on the order of 4000:1, provides calibrating the change in resistance (change in voltage, when
the necessary braking). Prop-pitch motors are dc motors, and the pot is fed from a constant voltage source) with degrees of
were designed to vary the pitch of propeller blades of older rotation (see the discussion on Position Display for details).
large airplanes at start-up, take-off and landing. Thus, they
can be run at different speeds merely by varying the dc volt- Elevation Drive
age to the motor, and can be reversed by reversing the polarity The elevation drive is also very simple. Most (nearly all)
of the dc voltage. By mounting a thrust bearing of the ap- TVRO setups have a means of moving the dish across the sky
propriate size at the top of the tower, and mounting the motor to align it with various satellites. To do this, most companies

Figure 17.49 — View of K2DH’s (ex-KD5RO) com- Figure 17.50 — Azimuth rotation systems, showing
plete TVRO antenna installation. (K2DH photo) prop-pitch motor and position sensor.

17-26   Chapter 17
use a device called a linear actuator. This is a dc motor to
which is attached a long lead screw that pulls (or pushes)
the outer shell of the actuator in or out to make it longer or
shorter. The movable end of the actuator is attached to the
dish and the motor end is fixed to the mount. The dish rests
on pivots, which allow it to move as the actuator extends/
retracts. To convert this type of mount (called a polar mount)
to an az/el mount is usually very simple.
Figure 17.51 shows how this can be done. Simply break-
ing the welds that held the mount in a polar fashion allows
the mount to be turned on its side and used to pivot the dish
vertically with the linear actuator. Another feature of linear
actuators is that they also have some means of feeding their
relative position to the satellite receiver. This is usually just Figure 17.51 — Elevation system, showing modified
a multiturn potentiometer geared to the lead screw. All we TVRO mount.

Figure 17.52 —
Schematic diagram of
the dish control sys-
tem. The Datel DM-LX3
is a digital meter, used
to indicate azimuth
and elevation angles.

Antennas for Space Communications   17-27

have to do is connect this pot to a readout system, and we can
calibrate the lift of the actuator in degrees. We thus have a
simple means of rotating the dish and elevating it — but how
do we know that it’s pointed at the Moon?

Position Display
Displaying the position of the antenna, in both azimuth
and elevation is also a relatively simple task. On the surplus
market there are available digital voltmeters (DVMs) using
LED or LCD displays that can do this job nicely, and that
have more precision than is probably necessary for a dish (or
Yagi array) of small size. As mentioned earlier, a multiturn
potentiometer on the elevation-drive mechanism can be used
to readout elevation, and the same technique can be used for
azimuth readout — a potentiometer coupled to the main ro-
tating shaft that turns the antenna.
When using a pot for readout, the most important thing
to know is how many degrees of antenna position change oc-
cur (in azimuth or elevation) for each turn of the pot. This
then can be used to calibrate a voltmeter to read volts directly
as degrees — for example, 3.60 V could correspond to 360°
azimuth (Clockwise North), and 9.0 V could correspond to
90° elevation (straight up).
A resistance bridge circuit is best used in this applica-
tion, since it is less sensitive to changes in the supply voltage.
The only thing to be careful about is that the DVM must have
both the positive (high) and negative (low) inputs isolated
from ground (assuming the power supply used to power the
DVM is grounded). You could also use a pair of small, inex-
pensive digital multimeters (DMMs). Because they are bat-
tery powered, the isolation issue just discussed is eliminated.
Figure 17.52 is a complete schematic of the azimuth, Figure 17.53 — View of feed, showing coffee-can feed horn
elevation and readout electronics for this antenna-drive sys- and hybrid coupler.
tem. Also note that while this discussion is geared toward the
use of a small dish, the same positioning and readout systems
could be used in a Yagi array for 2 meters or 70 cm. several years ago by Barry Malowanchuk, VE4MA, are in-
Now that we know where the dish is pointed, how do tended for use with just such dishes, and have the advantage
we know where the Moon is? There are several software of being adjustable to optimize their pattern to the dish in use.
programs available to the Amateur for tracking celestial bod- The feed that was used with this dish was modeled after
ies such as the Moon, the Sun, certain stars (usable as noise VE4MA’s 1296-MHz feed, and a version was even scaled
sources), and even amateur satellites. Programs by W2MRO for use at 2304 MHz that worked as well as the original. See
(ex W9IP), VK3UM, F1EHN and others can be obtained Figure 17.53 and the Bibliography at the end of this chapter.
very reasonably and these work well to provide highly ac- (Also see the earlier section of this chapter describing patch
curate position information for tracking. feeds for dishes.)

Feeding the Surplus TVRO Dish 17.4.6 A 12-FOOT STRESSED

An area that needs particular attention when attempting PARABOLIC DISH
EME with a small dish is an efficient feed system. An effi- This project was originally presented by Richard Knadle,
cient feed system can be a real challenge with TVRO dishes, K2RIW, in August 1972 QST and the full article, including
because many are “deep” — that is, their f/D (focal length to parts and materials lists, and construction details is included
diameter ratio) is small. on this book’s CD-ROM.
The satellite TV industry used deep dishes because they Some amateurs reject parabolic antennas because of the
tend to be quieter, picking up less Earth noise due to spillover belief that they are all heavy, hard-to-construct, have large
effects. A deep dish has a short focal length, and therefore, wind-loading surfaces and require precise surface accuracy.
the feed is relatively close to the surface of the dish. To prop- However, with modern construction techniques, a prudent
erly illuminate the reflector out to its edges, a feed horn of choice of materials and an understanding of accuracy re-
relatively wide beamwidth must be used. The feeds designed quirements, these disadvantages can be largely overcome. A

17-28   Chapter 17
 trunk of a car and can be assembled in 45 minutes.
The usually heavy structure that supports the surface of
most parabolic dish antennas has been replaced in this de-
sign by aluminum spokes bent into a near parabolic shape
by strings. These strings serve the triple function of guying
the focal point, bending the spokes and reducing the error at
the dish perimeter (as well as at the center) to nearly zero. By
contrast, in conventional designs, the dish perimeter (which
has a greater surface area than the center) is farthest from
the supporting center hub. For these reasons, it often has the
greatest error. This error becomes more severe when the wind
blows.
Here, each of the spokes is basically a cantilevered beam
with end loading. The equations of beam bending predict a
near-perfect parabolic curve for extremely small deflections.
Unfortunately the deflections in this dish are not that small
and the loading is not perpendicular. For these reasons, math-
ematical prediction of the resultant curve is quite difficult. A
much better solution is to measure the surface error with a
template and make the necessary correction by bending each
Figure 17.54 — A 12-foot stressed parabolic dish set up for
satellite signal near 2280 MHz. A preamplifier is shown of the spokes to fit. This procedure is discussed later.
taped below the feed horn. The dish was designed by The uncorrected surface is accurate enough for 432 and
K2RIW, standing at the right. The complete QST construc- 1296-MHz use. Trophies taken by this parabola in antenna-
tion article is available on this book’s CD-ROM. gain contests were won using a completely natural surface
with no error correction. By placing the transmission line
inside the central pipe that supports the feed horn, the area
parabola may be constructed with a 0.6 f/D (focal length/ of the shadows or blockages on the reflector surface is much
diameter) ratio, producing a rather flat dish, which makes it smaller than in other feeding and supporting systems, thus
easy to surface and allows the use of recent advances in high- increasing gain. For 1296 MHz, a backfire feed horn may
efficiency feed horns. This results in greater gain for a given be constructed to take full advantage of this feature. At
dish size over conventional designs. 432 MHz, a dipole and reflector assembly produces 1.5 dB
Such an antenna is shown in Figure 17.54. This para- additional gain over a corner-reflector feed system. Because
bolic dish is lightweight, portable, easy to build, and can be the preamplifier is located right at the horn on 2300 MHz, a
used for 432 and 1296 MHz mountaintopping, as well as conventional feed horn may be used. The texts listed in the
on 2304, 3456 and 5760 MHz. Disassembled, it fits into the Bibliography have more information on horn antennas.

17.5 Weatherproofing Relays and Preamplifiers

For stations using crossed Yagi antennas for CP opera- while the connectors can easily leak air. None of these meth-
tion, one feature that has been quite helpful for communicat- ods create a true hermetic seal and as a result the day/night
ing through most of the LEO satellites is the ability to switch temperature swings pump air and moisture in and out of the
polarization from RHCP to LHCP. In some satellite operation relay or preamp case. Under the right conditions of tempera-
this switchable CP ability has been essential. For those using ture and humidity, moisture from the air will condense inside
helical antennas or helical-fed dish antennas, we just would the case when the outside air cools down. Condensed water
not have the choice to switch CP unless an entirely new an- builds up inside the case, promoting extensive corrosion and
tenna is added to the cluster for that purpose. Not many of us unwanted electrical conduction, seriously degrading compo-
have the luxury of that kind of space available on our towers. nent performance in a short time.
For stations with switchable-polarization Yagi antennas, A solution for those antennas with “sealed” plastic re-
experience with exposed switching relays and preamplifi- lays, such as the KLM CX series, is to avoid problems by
ers mounted on antennas have shown that they are prone to making the modifications shown in Figure 17.55. Relocate
failure caused by a mechanism known as diurnal pumping. the 4:1 balun as shown and place a clear polystyrene plas-
Often these relays are covered with a plastic case, and the tic refrigerator container over the relay. Notch the container
seam between the case and PC board is sealed with a silicone edges for the driven element and the boom so the container
sealant. Preamps may also have a gasket seal for the cover, will sit down over the relay, sheltering it from the elements.
Antennas for Space Communications   17-29
Figure 17.55 — KLM 2M-22C antenna CP switching relay
with relocated balun. The protective cover is needed for rain
protection, be sure to use a polystyrene kitchen box, see
text. (KD1K photo)

Bond the container in place with a few dabs of silicone ad-

hesive sealant. (Be sure to use sealers that do not release
acetic acid during curing — see the Antenna Materials and
Construction chapter.) Position the antenna in an “X” ori- Figure 17.57 — Protection for tower-mounted equipment
entation, so neither set of elements is parallel to the ground. need not be elaborate. Be sure to dress the cables as
shown so that water drips off the cable jacket before it
The switcher board should now be canted at an angle, and reaches the enclosure. One hazard for such open-bottom
one side of the relay case should be lower than the other. An enclosures is that of animals gnawing on the cable insula-
example for the protective cover for an S-band preamp can be tion. Flying insects also like to build their houses in these
seen in the discussion on feeds for parabolic antennas. enclosures.
For both the relay and preamp cases, carefully drill
a 3⁄32-inch hole through the low side of the case to provide
the needed vent. The added cover keeps rainwater off the
relay and preamp, and the holes will prevent any buildup of condensation inside the relay case. Relays and preamplifiers
so treated have remained clean and operational over periods
of years without problems.
Another example for the protection of remotely, tower-
mounted equipment is shown in Figure 17.25, illustrating
the equipment box and mast-mounted preamplifiers at the
top of KD1K’s tower. The commercial NEMA 4 equipment
box, detailed in Figure 17.56 (shown inverted), is used to
protect the 23 cm power amplifier and its power supply, as
well as a multitude of electrical connections. This steel box
is very weather resistant, with an exceptionally good epoxy
finish, but it is not sealed and so it will not trap moisture to
be condensed with temperature changes. Be sure to use a box
with at least a NEMA 3 rating for rainwater and dust protec-
tion. The NEMA 4 rating provides a little better protection
than the NEMA 3 rating. Using a weather-rated equipment
enclosure is very well worth the expense. As you can see,
the box also provides some pretty good flanges to mount the
Figure 17.56 — A NEMA 4 box is used to shelter the L-band mast-mounted preamplifiers for three bands. This box is an
electronics and power supply. The box flanges are conve-
nient for mounting preamplifiers. The box is shown inverted elegant solution for the simple need of rain shelter for your
since it is on a tilt-over tower. (KD1K photo) equipment. See Figure 17.57.

17-30   Chapter 17
 17.6 Antenna Position Control
EME and satellite antennas have high gain and narrow
main beams that must be properly aimed in two coordinates.
Although polar mounts (one axis parallel to the Earth’s axis)
have sometimes been used, by far the most popular mounting
scheme today is the elevation-over-azimuth or az/el mount.
Readily available computer software can provide azimuth
and elevation coordinates for the Moon, and a small computer
can also control antenna positioning motors to automate the
whole pointing system.
Figure 17.58 — AMSAT-NA LVB Tracker Box assembly.
For mechanical reasons it is desirable to place the anten-
na’s center of gravity close to the intersection of the vertical
(azimuth) and horizontal (elevation) axes. On the other hand,
the mounting structure must not interfere with critical active assembled from AMSAT. This tracker uses an internal PIC
regions of the antenna. Stacked Yagis are generally mounted microcontroller that uses a 10-bit ADC encoder for rotator
so that metallic supporting members are perpendicular to the position feedback, resulting in sub-degree precision for both
radiating elements or located at midpoints where the effective elevation and azimuth. Yaesu (www.yaesu.com) also sells
apertures of separate Yagis meet. Feed lines and conducting the GS-232 computer control interface that can be used for
support members must not lie in the active planes containing tracking with their G-5500 az/el rotator system. AlfaSpid
Yagi elements, unless they run wholly along the boom. For (www.alfaradio.ca) also manufactures an az/el rotator.
dual-polarization Yagis, feed lines should be routed toward Other position readout and control options are available.
the rear of each Yagi and any mid-boom support members For many years ham operators have employed synchros, or
must be nonconducting. For space communications there is selsyns, for their position readouts. These are specialized
nothing magical about using horizontal and vertical for the transformers, using principles developed over sixty years ago
two orthogonal polarizations, and there are some advantages and employed in such devices as surplus “radio compass”
to mounting cross-Yagis with elements in the “X” rather than steering systems for aircraft. While the position readout of
“+” orientation. these devices can be quite precise, in general they only pro-
Parabolic dishes are usually mounted from behind, with vide a visual position indication, one that is not easily adapted
counterweights extending rearward to relieve torque imbal- to computer control. I8CVS employs such a system at his
ance on the elevation axis. Jack-screw actuators designed for station and he uses a weighted arm on the elevation synchro
positioning TVRO dishes can be readily adapted for elevation to provide a constant reference to the Earth’s gravity vector.
control. Standard heavy-duty antenna rotators can be used for The more up-to-date, computer-friendly position readout
azimuth positioning of dishes up to about 3 meters in size. methods used these days are usually based on precision po-
Larger dishes may require heavier, one-of-a-kind designs for tentiometers or digital position encoders. Figure 17.59 shows
pointing control. a variety of digital encoders employed by WØLMD. He notes
that such systems, while providing a very high precision of
17.6.1 POSITION CONTROLLERS
Operators through the years have employed many meth-
ods for the control of their antenna positions, ranging from
true arm-strong manual positioning, to manual operation of
the powered antenna azimuth and elevation rotators, to fully
automated computer control of the rotators. While computer
control of the rotators is not essential, operation is greatly
eased with their use.
For many years, one of the key control units for rotators
has been the Kansas City Tracker (KCT) board installed in
your computer. This device is no longer available new but
many are in use or available used. Information on the KCT is
available from AMSAT (www.amsat.org).
A recent trend for amateur antenna control has been
evolving in the form of a standalone controller that trans-
lates computer antenna-position information into control-
ler commands with an understanding of antenna-position
limits. AMSAT-NA has developed the LVB Tracker by Figure 17.59 — WØLMD has experimented with highly pre-
G6LVB (www.g6lvb.com) shown in Figure 17.58 that can cise optical encoders for his antenna position systems. See
be obtained in several different forms of kits or completely text. (WØLMD photo)

Antennas for Space Communications   17-31

angular position, they are not absolute systems and that once antennas. Generally, elevation booms for CP satellite anten-
calibrated, they must be continually powered so they do not nas need to be nonconducting so that the boom does not affect
lose their calibration. Precision potentiometers, on the other the radiation pattern of the antenna. In the example shown
hand, provide an absolute position reference, but with a preci- next, the elevation boom center section is a piece of extra-
sion that is limited to the quality of the potentiometer, typi- heavy-wall 11⁄2-inch pipe (for greater strength) with a tubular
cally 0.5% (0.45° in elevation and 1.80° in azimuth) to 1.0%. fiberglass-epoxy boom extension for the 70 cm antenna and a
So the choices have their individual limits, unless a lot of long home-brew extension for the 2 meter antenna. The boom
money is spent for very precise commercial systems. uses large PVC pipe reinforced with four braces of Phillystran
nonmetallic guy cable. (PVC pipe is notoriously flexible, but
17.6.2 ELEVATION CONTROL the Phillystran cables make a quite stiff and strong boom of
Satellite antennas need to have elevation control to point the PVC pipe.) For smaller installations, a continuous piece
up to the sky. This is the “el” part of az/el control of satellite of fiberglass-epoxy boom can be placed directly through the
elevation rotator.
Elevation boom motion needs to be powered and one
solution by KD1K, shown in Figure 17.60, uses a surplus
jackscrew drive mechanism. I8CVS has also built his own ro-
bust elevation mechanism. (See Figure 17.61.) Note in each
of these applications the methods used to provide bearings
for the elevation mechanism. In KD1K’s case, the elevation
axis is a piece of heavy-duty 11⁄2-inch pipe, (115⁄16-inch OD)
and large 2 inch journal bearings are used for the motion.
I8CVS uses a very large hinge to allow his motion.
Robust commercial solutions for az/el rotators have
­given operators good service over the years. See Fig-
ure 17.62. Manufacturers such as Yaesu and M2 are
among these suppliers. One operator, VE5FP, found a solu-
tion for his az/el rotator needs by using two low-cost, light-
weight TV rotators as shown in Figure 17.62.

Figure 17.60 — KD1K’s homebrew elevation rotator drive

using a surplus-store drive screw mechanism. Note also the Figure 17.61 — I8CVS’s homebrew elevation mechanism
large journal bearing supporting the elevation axis pipe using a very large, industrial hinge as the pivot and a jack-
shaft. (KD1K photo) screw drive. (I8CVS photo)

17-32   Chapter 17
Figure 17.62 — At left, Yaesu az/el antenna-rotator mounting system is shown. Note that antenna loads must be more care-
fully balanced on this rotator than in the previously shown systems. At right, VE5FP has a solution for his az/el rotators by
bolting two of them together as described in “An Inexpensive Az-El Rotator System” published in December 1998 QST.

17.7 Bibliography
ARRL and RSGB Books G. Brown, “Dual-Band Dish Feeds for 13/23 cm,”
ARRL UHF/Microwave Projects CD, ARRL Proceedings of the 2002AMSAT-NA Symposium,
(www.arrl.org). Oct 2002, pp 123-131.
ARRL UHF/Microwave Experimenter’s Manual, ARRL G. Brown, “MMDS Dishes,” available from members.aol.
(www.arrl.org), out of print. com/k5oe.
International Microwave Handbook — 2nd Edition, RSGB G. Brown, “Patch Feeds,” available from members.aol.
(www.rsgb.org). com/k5oe.
Microwave Know How, RSGB (www.rsgb.org). G. Brown, “The Texas Potato Masher: A Medium-Gain
Microwave Projects, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, RSGB Directional Satellite Antenna For LEOs,” The AMSAT
(www.rsgb.org). Journal, Vol 22, No. 1, Jan/Feb 1999.
D. DeMaw, “The Basic Helical Beam,” QST, Nov 1965,
Other Publications pp 20-25, 170.
G. Brown, “A Helix Feed for Surplus MMDS, Antennas,” N. Foot, “Cylindrical Feed horn for Parabolic Reflectors,”
Proceedings of the 2001AMSAT-NA Symposium, Ham Radio, May 1976, pp 16-20.
Oct 2001, pp 89-94; (also see members.aol.com/k5oe). D. Hallidy, “Microwave EME Using a Ten-Foot TVRO
G. Brown, “A K-Band Receiver for AO-40,” Proceedings of Antenna,” The ARRL UHF/Microwave Projects Manual,
the 2002 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium, Oct 2002. Vol 2 (Newington: ARRL, 1997) pp 10-9 to 10-13.
G. Brown, “Build This No-Tune Dual-Band Feed for Mode Available on the ARRL UHF/Microwave Projects CD.
L/S,” The AMSAT Journal, Vol 26, No 1, Jan/Feb 2003. D. Jansson, “Product Review: M2 23CM22EZA 1.2 GHz
Antenna,” QST, Sep 2002, pp 59-61.
Antennas for Space Communications   17-33
H. Jasik, Antenna Engineering Handbook, 1st ed. J. Miller, “‘Patch’ Feed For S-Band Dish Antennas”( see
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961). www.jrmiller.demon.co.uk/products/patch.html).
M. Kingery, “Setting Up for AO-40 L-Band Uplink,” J. Miller, “A 60-cm S-Band Dish Antenna,” The AMSAT
The AMSAT Journal, May/Jun 2002, pp 14-16, also: Journal, Vol 16 No. 2, Mar/Apr 1993, pp 7-9.
web.infoave.net/~mkmk518. J. Miller, “Small is Best,” The AMSAT Journal, Vol 16,
R. Knadle, “A Twelve-Foot Stressed Parabolic Dish,” QST, No. 4, Jul/Aug 1993, p 12.
Aug 1972, pp 16-22. A. Monteiro, “Work OSCAR 40 with Cardboard-box
J. Koehler, “An Inexpensive Az-El Rotator System”, QST, Antennas!,” QST, Mar 2003, pp 57-62.
Dec 1998, pp 42-46. A. Monteiro, “An EZ-Lindenblad Antenna for 2 Meters,”
J. Kraus, Antennas (New York: McGraw-Hill Book QST, Aug 2007, pp 37-40.
Company, 1988). See “The Helical Antenna,” Chapter 7. A. Monteiro, “A Parasitic Lindenblad Antenna for 70 cm,”
J. Kraus, Antennas (New York: McGraw-Hill Book QST, Feb 2010, p 46.
Company, 1988). See “Patch or Microstrip Antennas,” Orban Microwave, “The Basics of Patch Antennas,” (see
pp 745-749. www.orbanmicrowave.com/antenna_application_
J. D. Kraus, “A 50-Ohm Input Impedance for Helical Beam notes.htm).
Antenna,” IEEE Transactions on Antennas and J. Portune, “The Quadrifilar Helix as a 2 Meter Base Station
Propagation, Nov 1977, p 913. Antenna,” QST, Oct 2009, pp 30-32.
E. Krome, “Development of a Portable Mode S Ground E. Ruperto, “The W3KH Quadrifilar Helix Antenna,”
Station.” The AMSAT Journal, Vol 16, No. 6, Nov/Dec QST, Aug 1996, pp 30-34. See also “Feedback”, Jun
1993, pp 25-28. 1999 QST, p 78 and Sep 1999 QST, p 80.
E. Krome, “S band Reception: Building the DEM Converter M. Seguin, “OSCAR 40 on 24 GHz”, QST, Dec 2002,
and Preamp Kits,” The AMSAT Journal, Vol 16, No. 2, pp 55-56.
Mar/Apr 1993, pp 4-6. R. Seydler, “Modifications of the AIDC 3731
E. Krome, Mode S: The Book, pp 96, 109. Available from Downconverters,” (see members.aol.com/k5gna/
AMSAT (www.amsat.org). AIDC3731modifications.doc).
E. Krome, “Mode S: Plug and Play!,” The AMSAT Journal, G. Suckling, “K-Band Results From AO-40,”
Vol 14, No. 1, Jan 1991, pp 21-23, 25. (see www.g3wdg.free-online.co.uk/kband.htm).
H. Long, “My Shack Configuration — Spring 2002” (see G. Suckling, “Notch Filters for AO-40 Mode L/S,”
www.g6lvb.com/g6lvb_shack_spring_2002.htm). (see www.g3wdg.free-online.co.uk.notch.htm).
W. McCaa, “Hints on Using the AMSAT-OSCAR 13 D. Thiel and S. Smith, Switched Parasitic Antennas for
Mode S Transponder,” The AMSAT Journal, Vol 13, Cellular Communications, (Artech House, 2002).
No. 1, Mar 1990, pp 21-22. See Chapter 3, “Patch Antennas,” pp 79-96.
A. MacAllister, “Field Day 2002,” 73 Amateur Radio G. Tillitson, “The Polarization Diplexer — A Polaplexer,”
Today, Sep 2002, pp 48-52. Ham Radio, Mar 1977, pp 40-43.
B. Malowanchuk, “Use of Small TVRO Dishes for EME,” D. Thornburg and L. Kramer, “The Two-Meter Eggbeater,”
Proceedings of the 21st Conference of The Central QST, April 1971, pp 44-46.
States VHF Society, 1987, pp 68-77. D. Vilardi, “Simple and Efficient Feed for Parabolic
B. Malowanchuk, “Selection of An Optimum Dish Feed,” Antennas,” QST, Mar 1973, pp 42-44.
Proceedings of the 23rd Conference of The Central P. Wade, Online Microwave Antenna Handbook, 1998-
States VHF Society, 1989, pp 35-43. 2004. See “Chapter 4, Parabolic Dish Antennas,”
J. Miller, “Mode S — Tomorrow’s Downlink?,” The AMSAT www.w1ghz.org/antbook/contents.htm.
Journal, Vol 15, No. 4, Sep/Oct 1992, pp 14-15. T. Zibrat, “2.4 GHz Patch Design,” (see www.qsl.net/k3tz).

17-34   Chapter 17