henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (01/02/86)
> Earth station operators (like the plant I work at) already have to put up > with such interference. A few (predictable) times a year, the SUN is > directly behind the satellite we use for video conferencing. The sun, being > a prodigious radio source, wipes out the signal for about ten minutes. Point of curiosity: given that your receiver (okay, picky picky, your LNA) is at the focus of a roughly parabolic antenna, how do you avoid having the Sun fry the receiver? I assume that you aren't moving the antenna to dodge the sun, since antennas for geosynch satellites generally aren't fitted with that flexible a mount. Does it suffice to be careful about the infrared reflectivity of the dish surface? -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry
bp@nyit.UUCP (Bruce Perens) (01/06/86)
> how do you avoid having the > Sun fry the receiver? > Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology Infrared, having a shorter wavelength than microwave radio, is DIFFUSED by the finish on most dishes. If you polished an unpainted aluminum dish, this would become a problem. I would think the usual coat of white paint is enough to eliminate the possibility of having your radio dish act as a solar power plant. Bruce Perens decvax!philabs!nyit!bp