The characterization of a 34-meter beam-waveguide antenna at Ka band (32.0 GHz) and X band (8.4 GHz)

New antennas for the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) have been built to replace the aging antennas of older designs for deep-space communications. These new antennas incorporate a new dual-shape design as well as a beam waveguide (BWG), which utilize a series of additional secondary mirrors to relocate the focal point into a stationary room below the main reflector. The advantages of using such a design include increased isolation of the feed package from outside environmental factors, such as moisture, wind, and temperature changes; and ease of access to the equipment fur maintenance, troubleshooting and repair purposes. This article reports oil the performance of a beam waveguide antenna at X-band and Ka-band microwave frequencies. The Ka-Band Antenna Performance: Experiment (KaAP) antenna-efficiency measurements presented in this article were acquired at the Goldstone DSS-13 Research anti Development (R&D) beam-waveguide antenna between December, 1993, and November, 1995. The measured antenna efficiency and ground-station figure-of-merit (gain divided by operating system noise temperature) as a function of elevation angle: and their uncertainties are presented. Also described are the station configuration, the measurement technique, the modeling used in the analysis processing, and the historical evolution of the DSS-13 Ka-band antenna-efficiency measurements as progressive improvements and configuration changes were implemented.