Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Cormier, R..
We report 8510-MHz (3,5-cm) radar observations of the Earth crossing asteroid (ECA) 6489 Golevka (1991 JX) obtained between June 3 and June 15, 1995, at Goldstone, the Very Large Array and the Evpatoria (Ukraine) and Kashima (Japan) radio antennas.
Development of a high-power tube suitable to power a Ka-band (34.5-GHz) antenna transmitter located at the Goldstone, California, tracking station is continuing. The University of Maryland Laboratory for Plasma Research and JPL are conducting a joint effort to test the feasibility of phase locking a second-harmonic gyrotron both by direct injection at the output cavity and by using a priming cavity to bunch the electrons in the beam. This article describes several design options and the results of computer simulation testing.
The design, construction, and performance testing is described of two Varian klystrons, model VKX-7864A, which replaced the aging and less efficient VA-949J klystrons in the X band planetary radar transmitter on the Goldstone, CA, 70 meter antenna. The project was carried out jointly by the JPL and Varian Assoc. Output power was increased from 200 to 250 kW continuous wave per klystron, and full dc beam power is dissipated in the collector (it was not possible to operate the VA-949J klystrons without RF drive because of limited collector dissipation capability). Replacements were made with a minimum of transmitter modifications. The planetary radar transmitter is now operating successfully with these two klystrons.
This work was done to optimize the design of the components used for the beam power supply, which is a component of the transmitters in the Deep Space Network (DSN). The major findings are: (1) the difference in regulation between a six-pulse and a twelve-pulse converter is at most 7 percent worse for the twelve-pulse converter; (2) the commutation overlap angle of a current source converter equals that of a voltage source converter with continuous line currents; (3) the sources of uncharacteristic harmonics are identified with SPICE simulation; (4) the use of an imperfect phase-shifting transformer for the twelve-pulse converter generates a harmonic at six times the line frequency; and (5) the assumptions usually made in analyzing converters can be relaxed with SPICE simulation. The results demonstrate the suitability of using SPICE simulation to obtain detailed performance predictions of ac-to-dc converters.
A new 2.25-MW transformer rectifier assembly was fabricated for DSS-13 at Goldstone, California. The transformer rectifier will provide constant output power of 2.25 MW at any voltage from 31 kV to 125 kV. This will give a new capability of 1 MW of RF power at X-band, provided appropriate microwave tubes are in the power amplifier. A description of the design and test results is presented.
The reduction is described of the operation and fault diagnostics of a Deep Space Network heat exchanger to a rule base by the application of propositional calculus to a set of logic statements. The value of this approach lies in the ease of converting the logic and subsequently implementing it on a computer as an expert system. The rule base was written in Process Intelligent Control software.
A proposed conceptual design of a 400 kW CW Ka-Band transmitter and associated microwave components to be used for planetary radar and serve as a prototype for feature spacecraft uplinks is discussed. System requirements for such a transmitter are presented. Performance of the proposed high power millimeter wave tube, the gyroklystron, is discussed. Parameters of the proposed power amplifier, beam supply, and monitor and control devices are also presented, Microwave transmission line components consisting of signal monitoring devices, signal filtering devices, and an overmoded corrugated feed are discussed. Finally, an assessment of the state of the art technology to meet the system requirements is given and possible areas of difficulty are summarized.
A new 20-kW X-band transmitter was built and installed on the antenna at DSS 13. A description of the hardware and operation are presented. This transmitter is the prototype for the new X-band uplink to be added to the DSN to support Galileo and future missions.