Helmut E Schwarz, 8520 Coolidge Ct, Palm Coast, FL 32137

4366453, Dec 28, 1982

Jan 19, 1981

6/226092

Helmut Schwarz - Satellite Beach FL

Harris Corporation - Melbourne FL

H01P 516

333117

In orthogonal mode transducers, typically a first rectangular waveguide capable of carrying a signal having a first polarization and a second rectangular waveguide capable of carrying a signal having a second polarization orthogonal to the first polarization are coupled to a common central waveguide which is capable of carrying signals having both the first and second polarizations. However, in the past, difficulties have been encountered in manufacturing such orthogonal mode transducers because of the necessity of matching these respective waveguides which do not have the same cross-sectional shape and which must be oriented in a particular manner relative to one another to achieve the desired result. To overcome this difficulty in manufacturing, the present invention couples the first and second rectangular waveguides to the central waveguide so that the longitudinal axes of the first and second rectangular waveguides are symmetrically arranged relative to the longitudinal axis of the central waveguide to form a symmetrical Y-configuration.

4837576, Jun 6, 1989

Nov 16, 1984

6/672579

Helmut E. Schwarz - Satellite Beach FL

Electrospace Systems, Inc. - Richardson TX

G01S 1366

342 77

An antenna tracking system tracks a primary antenna to follow a moving signal source, such as a communication satellite. A secondary antenna has a greater beam width than the primary antenna and receives the same tracking signal from the satellite. The primary antenna is tracked according to a predetermined search pattern which causes a variation in the signal amplitude depending upon the relative location of the satellite and the antenna position. The signal strength signals from the two antennas are input to a summation function which takes the difference of the two signals. The noise and signal variation component of the two signals is substantially the same and is therefore eliminated from the resulting difference signal. An antenna control unit utilizes the resulting difference signal to select the optimum signal strength for the particular step of the search pattern. This system is particularly applicable to high frequency communication channels in the higher (86 Ghz and above) frequency band which are subject to atmospheric distortion and noise.