Measurement of a Weak Satellite Beacon Level at 27.5 GHz with a Dual Circular Antenna Array [Measurements Corner]

The rapid increase of available Ka-band and Ku-band transponders in orbit proves that these frequency bands will be in common use in the near future. However, compared to the Ku band and lower frequencies, Ka-band transmission is much more sensitive to atmospheric moisture. To determine its impact, we have measured the beacon (27.5 GHz) signal of the communication satellite KA-SAT with high precision on the ground. In this paper, we describe and discuss the concept and the results of our measurements.