Characterization, Design and Implementation of the Q-band Alphasat Receiving Station in Rome

The current need for an increasingly wider bandwidth in satellite radio communications pushes to exploit higher frequency ranges, capable to support required transmission capacity, nowadays not easily possible at heavily busy lower frequencies [1]. However, higher frequency propagation suffers much more atmospheric components effects that reduce drastically connection availability in unfavourable weather conditions (e.g., [2]-[3]-[4]). In order to analyze and quantify degradation of transmission channel performance at Ka-band (20 GHz) and Q-band (40 GHz), European Space Agency scheduled, in 2012, to launch AlphaSat satellite for conducting radio propagation studies by a “Technology demonstrator Payload”, denominated TDP5 [5]. In this context, Microwave Laboratory of Communications and Information Technology Institute (ISCTI, Economic Development Ministry Communications Department Rome) is developing a Q-band receiving station, designed in collaboration with Department of Information, Electronic and Telecommunications engineering (DIET) of Sapienza Rome University Sapienza and Ugo Bordoni Foundation (FUB). Components recovered inside an unused receiving station, dedicated to previous propagation experiments, have been used with a great advantage from economic point of view. Tracking has not been implemented because used antenna minimizes received power level variations, due to satellite apparent movement up to about ± 1 degree, within only 2 dB.