Radiation Analysis of Satellite Tracking UHF/VHF Yagi Turnstile Array Antenna for APRS Digipeater Ground Station

Abstract: Research and development have been rapidly advancing in the field of amateur radio in the Low earth orbit (LEO). Amateur radio has become some of the first users of personal communication services provided by LEO satellite systems. Study of design and development of low-cost store-and-forward communication satellites operating in low earth orbit has been a popular area to explore in the satellite communication. A small sized antenna which is compact and effective is preferred than the earlier satellites. For this, Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) digipeater was evolved. Accordingly, the design of the antenna also needs to align with the change in the evolution of satellites. This paper focuses on the analysis of the real time Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) antenna array with its parameters like gain, directivity and return loss.

Keywords: Yagi-Uda, Turnstile, Antenna, UHF, VHF, APRS