Microwave Telemetry at U. S. Missile Ranges

An orderly plan has been prepared covering the implementation of UHF radio telemetry on the country's missile ranges. Requirements have been drafted for UHF systems to be developed by 1970. Programs have been launched to transfer the requirements into equipment. Preliminary standards have been established. Today, UHF telemetry links are utilized for a limited number of projects. Currently a high-performance UHF link is expensive, large in size, and complex. One must use a transmitter that may weigh 12 to 50 pounds, that has a volume of 250 to 1000 cu in, and that has an over-all power efficiency of 2 per cent for an 8 to 10 watt output. Its cost may be 10 times that of a 5-watt VHF transmitter. Automatic tracking systems are required but are not generally available. Special preamplifier-converters are also necessary. Because of these factors, UHF telemetry is used, at present, only by a few missile projects. Obviously, we must continue to advance the state-of-the-art until a spectrum of microwave devices is available to fill the needs of the majority of telemetry users. Economy, as well as technical capability and flexibility, will be the mark of these developments.