Alphasat propagation experiment in Madrid: Quality assessment of the measurements

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) is participating in the Alphasat propagation experiment by measuring the copolar level of the Q-Band beacon at 39.4 GHz. Measurements started in test mode in December 2013 and are being carried out continuously since April 2014. A full year of measurements will be available by the time of the Conference. In this paper the quality of the measurements is assessed with regards to the receiver performance and several systematic effects. Different issues are discussed in detail, starting with the antenna pointing, continuing with the influence of the equipment temperature and finally presenting some examples of separation of rain attenuation and scintillation effects.