Prototype fabrication and measurements of uplink and downlink microstrip patch antennas for NPSAT-1

Abstract

This thesis addresses the prototyping, measurement, and validation of two circularly polarized microstrip patch antennas designed by LTJG Mahmut Erel for the NPSAT-1. The antenna system (receive and transmit), consisting of two antennas on a ground plane and their feed systems, was field-tested. The results were compared to the CSTʼ Microwave Studio. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) software package predictions in order to verify that this design satisfies the NPSAT-1 requirements for bandwidth, free-space radiation pattern and low-profile shape.