Fully Coherent UAV-Based Near-Field Measurement and Transformation of the S67-15 m Ground Station Antenna at the German Space Operations Center in Weilheim

Abstract

Fully coherent unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based near-field measurements of the S67 parabolic ground station antenna in Weilheim, Germany at 2.06392 GHz are presented. The utilized measurement setup involves a vector network analyzer (VNA), radio frequency optical fiber connections, a laser tracking device (LT), and a specially designed light-weight dual-polarized Vivaldi antenna. The measurement data has been collected on a quasi-planar measurement surface in front of the reflector and the far-field patterns are obtained by field transformation from the irregular near-field data. Despite the complexity of this outdoor measurement setup with full exposure to varying weather conditions and the influence of the UAV on the near-field probe antenna, the far-field results show remarkable agreement with satellite based far-field measurement data.