Feed for Simultaneous X-Band and Ka-Band Operations on Large Aperture Antennas

Abstract

With the introduction of the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellites, simultaneous operation in X-Band and in Ka-Band will be a requirement for many terminals. Overwatch Textron Systems, Ltd. is a provider of multiband feeds and has developed feed systems that operate simultaneously in X-Band and Ka-Band in transmit and receive. The feed system has also been designed to operate with multiple carriers in a Low passive intermodulation product environment. These feed systems have been deployed in multiple configurations including Teleport class antennas, shipboard antennas, and flyaway antennas. The feed system is designed using Overwatch's patented multiband feed technology and is easily adapted to operate with existing reflector systems. This feed system is very useful for terminals that are difficult to access or where real estate does not allow the installation of multiple antennas. This paper details the efforts of adapting this feed technology to Large Aperture antennas. The paper provides details on the original proof of concept antenna as well as current enhancements being made to improve the capabilities of the feed and antenna systems. One of these enhancements is the addition of pseudo-monopulse tracking to the feed system.