RESULTS FROM THE VIRGINIA-TECH PROPAGATION EXPERIMENT USING THE OLYMPUS SATELLITE 12-GHZ, 20-GHZ AND 30-GHZ BEACONS

A comprehensive set of propagation experiments was performed using the Olympus satellite 12, 20, and 30 GHz beacons. This set of experiments is unique in North America because of simultaneous reception of signa ls spanning the Ku- and Ka-bands from the same orbital slot, which per mits direct inference of the frequency behavior of signal variations. The elevation angle from the receiving site in Blacksburg, VA, to the satellite was 14 degrees, Beacon, radiometric, and weather data for on e year were analyzed, The statistical results for rain rate, beacon at tenuation, attenuation ratios, radiometrically. derived attenuation, f ade duration, and fade slope are presented, They are important to the design of Ku- and Ka-band satellite communication systems, The beacon attenuation results include cumulative statistics for attenuation with respect to free space and with respect to clear air, Attenuation rati o data are presented using attenuation with respect to clear air to fo cus on rain effects, Instantaneous attenuation ratios computed from in stantaneous beacon levels were found to be nearly identical to statist ical attenuation ratios obtained from cumulative attenuation statistic s at each frequency.