Polarization-Diversity Telemetry Receivers

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 18-20, 1966 / Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, CaliforniaStudies at the Langley Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have shown that certain physical properties of extraterrestrial surfaces can be determined by analysis of impact-acceleration, time-history signatures obtained by instrumented projectiles (penetrometers). This paper considers the theory and design of a polarization-diversity receiver developed to receive and combine FM/FM penetrometer telemetry data. The signals are radiated by a set of orthogonal magnetic dipoles fed in time quadrature to obtain an omnidirectional radiation pattern similar to the pattern from a conventional turnstile. A special polarization-diversity receiving system is required to reduce the effects of fading of the RF carrier resulting from random changes in the orientation of the radiating antenna system. Various combining techniques are evaluated. Finally, a maximal-ratio, postdetection, dual-channel receiver with dual conversion and subcarrier discrimination developed specifically for the application is described.International Foundation for TelemeteringProceedings from the International Telemetering Conference are made available by the International Foundation for Telemetering and the University of Arizona Libraries. Visit http://www.telemetry.org/index.php/contact-us if you have questions about items in this collection