Optimized antenna designs for meteor burst communications

Meteor burst (MB) link performance is highly sensitive to patterns of link antennas. This sensitivity is determined by the match of transmit and receive antenna power gain and polarization throughout the usable MB sky volume. An application of the METEORLINK computer model to optimize antenna designs versus range is described. The approach uses antenna elevation and azimuth angle densities created with omnidirectional antenna patterns at different link ranges to provide specifications for the optimum pattern. Realizable designs are presented for path lengths of 100, 600 and 1100 miles and apply to fixed range links using simple antennas above ground. The approach can be extended to optimize antenna designs for adaptive, network, or mobile applications.<
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