A9.3 - Real-Time Detection of Antenna Tracking Errors
- Event
- ETTC 2026 - European Test and Telemetry Conference
2026-06-09 - 2026-06-11
Nuremberg - Chapter
- RF Spectrum III
- Author(s)
- A. Bilsel, M. K. Arpacioglu - Turkish Aerospace Inc., Ankara (Turkey)
- Pages
- 158 - 163
- DOI
- 10.5162/ettc2026/A9.3
- Price
- free
Abstract
In flight test telemetry operations, maintaining reliable communication between airborne platforms and receiving systems critically depends on accurate antenna tracking performance. Under dynamic flight conditions, deviations in azimuth and elevation pointing can lead to significant degradation in received signal strength. The impact of tracking errors on signal performance is often not explicitly quantified, and detection of such errors during flight remains an open challenge. This study presents an analysis framework for evaluating antenna tracking performance and telemetry link reliability using real flight test data. The true line-of-sight (LOS) direction is calculated from geometric coordinate transformations and compared with measured antenna pointing angles to define tracking errors. A gain degradation model maps angular tracking errors to antenna gain losses, while transmitter antenna gain is estimated using a pattern-based body-frame transformation that accounts for airborne antenna placement and platform maneuvers. The framework has been applied to flight test data, where combined analysis of signal level, model residual, and demodulator quality enables root-cause identification of telemetry loss events and supports antenna system configuration decisions for subsequent flight test operations. Consistent results obtained on a second receiving system indicate that the framework can be extended to other receiving antenna configurations.