COMSTAR Experiment: The 19-GHz Receiving System for an Interim COMSTAR Beacon Propagation Experiment at Crawford Hill

A receiving system for the 19-GHz COMSTAR beacons 1,2 has been operating since May 25, 1976, at the Bell Laboratories Crawford Hill facility at Holmdel, New Jersey. This system is less complex than the precision receiving system 3,4 also operating there, but uses the same overall system design and many similar components. This paper will discuss the antenna and receiving electronics for this system. This receiving system was used initially for observations of the first COMSTAR beacon as it crossed the horizon at Crawford Hill. The main receiving system electronics3 were operated for a short period in parallel with this system, while awaiting completion of the Crawford Hill millimeter-wave antenna. 4 The interim receiving system is presently observing the beacon located at 128° W longitude. The propagation path from Crawford Hill to the beacon has an azimuth of 244.7° and an elevation of 18.5°. The beacon characteristics are similar to those given in Table I of Ref. 1; the incident 1331