MINIMIZATION OF ATTENUATION ON KU-BAND SIGNAL DUE TO WET PARABOLIC ANTENNA OPERATING ON SATELLITE DOWNLINK USING HYDROPHOBIC COATING
Northern Nigeria experiences a long period of rainfall annually. Parabolic dish antennas operating on the KU-band suffer significant signal degradation due to the accumulation of water on the surfaces during rain. The thin layer of water that is retained on the surface of the dish creates a dielectric interface medium which results in signal scattering and consequently reduces the antenna gain, therefore, losses are experienced. In this work, simulated rain experiment was carried out to verify the capacity of hydrophobic coatings to reduce signal fading due to wet parabolic dish antenna. It was carried out in isolation of other known major contributors to signal fading during rain. Downlink signal from Intelsat 7/10 satellite operating on KU-band on orbital slot 68?E broadcasting TV services to West Africa was used as the signal source. The extent of reduction in signal attenuation resulting from applying hydrophobic coating was evaluated. The work became necessary in order to increase broadcast availability and reliability during rain. The preliminary results obtained from the experiment using two hydrophobic coatings indicated about 0.5 dB and 0.8 dB reductions in the attenuation during rain by the satellite receiving systems. Application of hydrophobic coating is recommended for enhancement of signal reception.
Authors : Hassan, A., Ishaku, T.B., Buhari, H.M., Hassan, S.M. and Saeed, M.Y.
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 10(1) Date Uploaded : 25th May 2024