RFEarth Station to Satellite Link Calculator
Advertisement
This page provides an Earth Station to Satellite Link Calculator for calculating key parameters in satellite communication links.
The calculator requires the following input parameters:
- RF Transmission Frequency (GHz)
- Antenna Diameter (meters)
- Transmitting Power (dBW)
- Antenna Efficiency
- Satellite Distance from the Earth (km)
The calculator then calculates the following:
- Path Loss (dB)
- Parabolic Reflector Transmitting Antenna Gain (dB)
- EIRP (dBW)
- Received Power at Satellite (dBW)
EXAMPLE:
INPUTS:
- Transmission Frequency = 6 GHz
- Antenna Diameter = 7.2 meters
- Transmit Power = 8000 W (This needs to be converted to dBW. See note below)
- Satellite Distance = 39920 km
- Antenna Efficiency = 0.7
OUTPUTS:
- Path Loss = 199.98 dB
- Transmit Antenna Gain = 51.56 dB
- EIRP = 90.59 dBW
- Received Power at Satellite = -109.39 dBW
Earth to Satellite link
The figure above depicts the scenario for this calculator. As shown, the calculator determines the satellite received power and other parameters as mentioned above.
Earth Station to Satellite Link Equation
The Earth station to Satellite link is crucial for many applications, most notably TV channel broadcasting. All the TV channel frequencies are combined and uplinked to the satellite, which in turn broadcasts the TV channel information to a wide area on Earth. Hence, accurate link budget calculations are very important.
The following equation or formula is used for the Earth Station to Satellite Link Calculator:
Earth Station to Satellite Link Budget Calculator
Important Note on Transmit Power: Please ensure the transmitting power is entered in dBW. If you have the power in Watts (W), you need to convert it using the following formula:
Power (dBW) = 10 \* log10(Power (W))
For example, 8000 Watts = 10 * log10(8000) = 39.03 dBW. Please ensure this value is used in any calculations. The example above is incorrect as it does not convert the transmit power correctly.
