VHF space-to-Earth radio link performance in various man-made noise environments

The performance of a differentially-coherent binary-phase-shift-keyed radio link operating at a frequency of 137 MHz in various man-made noise environments was determined by Monte-Carlo simulation. The man-made noise was generated by a model built from noise measurement data. The results show that the performance can be severely degraded in links that operate in residential and business environments or near power lines. Further measurements and analysis is needed to determine the extent of this degradation.