{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35286"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35286","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Electrical Design and Testing of an Uplink Antenna for Nanosatellite Applications","abstract":"Virginia Tech, Utah State University, and the University of Washington were teamed to form the Ionospheric Observation Nanosat Formation to investigate formation-flying requirements for multiple spacecraft missions. A communication subsystem for the mission will comprise an uplink, downlink and a satellite-to-satellite crosslink. A linearly polarized resonant loop antenna mounted above the bottom surface of the spacecraft was selected for a possible satellite uplink receive antenna. The resonant loop was chosen to satisfy the physical requirements of the spacecraft whild still achieving efficient operation for a UHF signal. A full-scale prototype was fabricated to measure frequency dependent characteristics of the antenna. A gamma match and a quarter-wave sleeve balun transformer were integrated to the system to minimize the power reflected at the antenna input and to isolate the antenna from the feed line. The uplink antenna demonstrated sufficient performance; however, the final bandwidth of less than one percent will require additional tuning as other subsystems are integrated into the final flight-ready prototype.","abstract_html":"Virginia Tech, Utah State University, and the University of Washington were teamed to form the Ionospheric Observation Nanosat Formation to investigate formation-flying requirements for multiple spacecraft missions. A communication subsystem for the mission will comprise an uplink, downlink and a satellite-to-satellite crosslink. A linearly polarized resonant loop antenna mounted above the bottom surface of the spacecraft was selected for a possible satellite uplink receive antenna. The resonant loop was chosen to satisfy the physical requirements of the spacecraft whild still achieving efficient operation for a UHF signal. A full-scale prototype was fabricated to measure frequency dependent characteristics of the antenna. A gamma match and a quarter-wave sleeve balun transformer were integrated to the system to minimize the power reflected at the antenna input and to isolate the antenna from the feed line. The uplink antenna demonstrated sufficient performance; however, the final bandwidth of less than one percent will require additional tuning as other subsystems are integrated into the final flight-ready prototype.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hearn, Christian W."],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Electrical Engineering","degree_department":"Electrical and Computer Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Scales, Wayne A."],"committee_members":["Davis, William A.","Stutzman, Warren L."],"year":2001,"date_issued":"2001-08-17","date_published":"2001-08-17","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:18Z","subjects":["uplink antenna","nanosatellite","UHF"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-10042001-163244"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-10042001-163244","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35286","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Scales, Wayne A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Davis, William A.","Stutzman, Warren L."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Electrical and Computer Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hearn, Christian W."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:46:20Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:46:20Z","2002-10-08"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2001-08-17"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Electrical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["uplink antenna","nanosatellite","UHF"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-10042001-163244"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35286"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Virginia Tech, Utah State University, and the University of Washington were teamed to form the Ionospheric Observation Nanosat Formation to investigate formation-flying requirements for multiple spacecraft missions. A communication subsystem for the mission will comprise an uplink, downlink and a satellite-to-satellite crosslink. A linearly polarized resonant loop antenna mounted above the bottom surface of the spacecraft was selected for a possible satellite uplink receive antenna. The resonant loop was chosen to satisfy the physical requirements of the spacecraft whild still achieving efficient operation for a UHF signal. A full-scale prototype was fabricated to measure frequency dependent characteristics of the antenna. A gamma match and a quarter-wave sleeve balun transformer were integrated to the system to minimize the power reflected at the antenna input and to isolate the antenna from the feed line. The uplink antenna demonstrated sufficient performance; however, the final bandwidth of less than one percent will require additional tuning as other subsystems are integrated into the final flight-ready prototype."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Electrical Design and Testing of an Uplink Antenna for Nanosatellite Applications"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Scales, Wayne A."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Davis, William A.","Stutzman, Warren L."],"dc:contributor.department":["Electrical and Computer Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Hearn, Christian W."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:46:20Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:46:20Z","2002-10-08"],"dc:date.issued":["2001-08-17"],"dc:description.abstract":["Virginia Tech, Utah State University, and the University of Washington were teamed to form the Ionospheric Observation Nanosat Formation to investigate formation-flying requirements for multiple spacecraft missions. A communication subsystem for the mission will comprise an uplink, downlink and a satellite-to-satellite crosslink. A linearly polarized resonant loop antenna mounted above the bottom surface of the spacecraft was selected for a possible satellite uplink receive antenna. The resonant loop was chosen to satisfy the physical requirements of the spacecraft whild still achieving efficient operation for a UHF signal. A full-scale prototype was fabricated to measure frequency dependent characteristics of the antenna. A gamma match and a quarter-wave sleeve balun transformer were integrated to the system to minimize the power reflected at the antenna input and to isolate the antenna from the feed line. 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