Satellite and Lunar Tracking System Antenna SALTSA

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Satellite and Lunar Tracking System
Antenna(SALTSA)

• Brandon Bobian
• Ryan Hickman
• Tim Sullivan
• Keith Wayman

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Background

• Restored antennas north of Boulder
• On federally mandated radio quiet zone
• Managed by DSES since 1991
• Applications
• Tracking and Downlinking
• Radio Astronomy

• Antenna Specifications
• Two 60 ft parabolic dish antennas
• 100 MHz 10 GHz
• Coverage Full Hemisphere
• Slew Rate Az/El 40/40 deg/min

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Project Proposal

• Establish a control/tracking system for the
  parabolic antennas
• System should be autonomous (use TLEs)
• Track MEO satellites (orbital period of 8 hours)
• Steer (fine adjust) based on the power of the
  received signal
• Capable of parking/storing the antenna when wind
  speeds are in excess of 25mph

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Project Proposal Cont.

• Long term tracking (gt6 hours)
• Precision and Accuracy of better than 0.25 deg
• Ability to decode L-band EME (Earth-Moon-Earth)
  signal transmission/reflection

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Resources

• Facilities
• DSES Antennas
• Table Mountain, Boulder County
• Additional Advisors
• DSES Members
• Additional Funds
• None