30/20 GHz technology at TRW

The design characteristics and early test results are presented for two types of 20 GHz solid state power amplifiers, an integrated 30 GHz receiver complex with both fixed and scanning beams, and an electric power conditioner for a dual-mode 7.5 and 75 watt 20 GHz travelling wavtube amplifiers, all of which are being developed as part of NASA's proof of concept technology development activity for the 30/20 GHz program. The solid state amplifiers utilize FET amplifiers to provide a 7.5 watt output and IMPATT diodes to provide a 20 watt output, while the IMPATT unit uses a 12 diode combiner with a combining efficiency of 80%. The current breadboard provides 17.18 watts output in the injection-locked mode. The antenna uses an 80.5 inch carbon-filament-reinforced plastic offset parabola to produce 0.3 degree beams. The feeds are polarization-diplexed, with both polarizations being utilized to provide fixed and scanning beams, and the feed-sets are interspersed to solve the feed crowding problem.