A PORTABLE HF RECEIVING COMPLEX FOR FREGUENCY-AND-ANGULAR SOUNDING OF THE IONOSPHERE

Abstract

The paper presents the functional diagram and principle of operation of a portable HF receiving complex intended for measuring angles of arrival, Doppler frequency shifts and group time delays of probe signals used for remote radio sensing of the ionosphere. The complex has been developed on the basis of a single-channel digital receiver, and includes a multiplexor, personal computer and three spaced antennas to allow estimating angles of arrival by the phase-difference direction finding technique with Doppler frequency filtering. The principle of the technique and algorithm of estimating the signal trajectory parameters used in the receiver complex with a multiplexor are briefly described. Results of laboratory and field tests of the portable complex are presented. Data of synchronous measurements of HF signal angles of arrival using the developed complex and two other instruments, specifically, the UTR-2 decameter wavelength radio telescope and analogous three-channel complex of frequency-and-angular sounding of the ionosphere (FASI), are compared.

Keywords

• receiving complex
• multiplexer
• phase difference
• angles of arrival