Antenna Development Corporation

(AntDevCo)

Updated 10 October, 2011

Welcome to the Antenna Development Corporation Website, www.AntDevCo.com .

We keep this a very simple site so don’t get your hopes up for bells and whistles. Use your browser’s “find” function and look at the PDF files for more details.

Microstrip Patch Antenna S-band Helix Antenna Hats

Charter:

AntDevCo’s develops and manufactures high technology antennas for spacecraft, missiles, rockets, and re-entry vehicles. We concentrate on custom solutions for broad beamwidth, low and medium gain antennas for the space and near-space environment.

Our company has embraced the ISO philosophy from AntDevCo’s inception.  Quality and reliability are our primary concerns and we strive to make continuous improvements in all of our processes and products.

Products:

Spacecraft Antennas (ADC-0601291440 R2 Spacecraft Antenna & Hats Catalog.pdf): - Cubesat and larger spacecraft. All designs space qualified and highly reliable. All antennas are low outgassing and can operate over extended temperature ranges. All units have passed environmental testing for orbit and launch vehicle use and have extensive heritage (ADC-0601291440 R2 Spacecraft Antenna & Hats Catalog.pdf). For more on antenna selection, ADC-0807201342 - R0 Small Satellite Antenna Paper.htm and ADC-0807201305 - R0 Small Spacecraft Antenna Selection Tutorial.pdf.

· Single Frequency Microstrip Patch Antennas – GPS, SGLS, SN, DSN, and custom frequencies (ADC-0509251107 R3 Patch Antenna data sheet.pdf)

Gain ~ +6 dBi, Conformal and low mass. Circular or linear polarization, Broad beam width, narrow bandwidth (~ 20 MHz at S-band center frequencies), UHF, L, S, C, or X-band frequencies. Can be mounted side by side, TX and RX antennas. Provide about 30 dB of isolation for 4” X 4” S-band units in the SN frequency bands.

· Dual Frequency Microstrip Patch Antennas – GPS, SGLS, SN, DSN, and custom frequencies (ADC-0509251107 R3 Patch Antenna data sheet.pdf)

Gain ~ +6 dBi, Conformal and low mass. Circular or linear polarization, Broad beam width, narrow bandwidth (~ 20 MHz at S-band center frequencies), L, S, C, or X-band frequencies. Particularly useful for Cubesat communications.

· Single Frequency Microstrip Patch Planar Array Antennas – GPS, SGLS, SN, DSN, and custom frequencies (ADC-0512271640 R2 4-Patch Array data sheet.pdf)

Gain ~ +11 dBi, Conformal and low mass. Circular or linear polarization, Narrower beam width, narrow bandwidth (~ 20 MHz at S-band center frequencies), UHF (ADC-0806051128 R2 UHF Patch Antenna data sheet.pdf), L, S, C, or X-band frequencies.

· Cylindrical Array Microstrip Patch Array Antennas - GPS, SGLS, SN, DSN, and custom frequencies (inquire for more information)

Gain ~ +1 dBi. Conformal and low mass. Circular or linear polarization, Azimuthally symmetric pattern, narrow bandwidth (~20 MHz at S-band center frequencies). L, S, C, and X-band frequencies

· Helix Antennas – SGLS, SN, and custom frequencies (ADC-0601010841 R1 Helix Antenna Data Sheet.pdf)

Gain ~ +9 dBi, Circular polarization, Narrower beam width, wider bandwidth (~ 200 MHz at S-band center frequencies), L, S, or C-band frequencies.

· Helix Array Antennas – SGLS, SN, and custom frequencies (inquire for more information)

Gain ~ +13 dBi, Circular polarization, Narrowest beam width, wider bandwidth (~ 200 MHz at S-band center frequencies), L, S, or C-band frequencies.

· Quadrifilar Helix Antennas – SGLS, SN, and custom frequencies. Iso-flux patterns available. ADC-0509251050 R1 Spacecraft Quadrifilar Helix Antenna data.pdf and ADC-0601011244 QHA poster.pdf

Gain ~ 2 dBic, Circular polarization, Widest beam with, narrow bandwidth (~ 20 MHz at S-band center frequencies), L, S, C, and X-band frequencies.

· Evolved Wire Antennas – SGLS, SN, DSN, and custom frequencies. Iso-flux patterns available. ADC-0603251556 R3 Spacecraft Evolved Antenna data.pdf

Gain +2 to +9 dBi depending on design, Circular or linear polarization, Wide to Narrow beam widths, widest bandwidth (~ 400 MHz at S-band center frequencies), L, S, C, or X-band frequencies.

Antenna Hats (Couplers): - for thermal vacuum or ground support testing. (ADC-0601291440 R2 Spacecraft Antenna & Hats Catalog.pdf)

· Single Hats – designed to match the above antennas. Low outgassing, low insertion loss, low leakage, broad bandwidth. Excellent VSWR for both the antenna under the hat and the hat port.

· Wrap Around Hats – designed to operate with conical or right circular cylinder array antennas. Low insertion loss, low leakage. Excellent VSWR for both the antenna under the hat and the hat port.

Power Splitter/Combiners: – space qualified.

· 2-way, 3-way, and Custom – designed for antenna applications. Low outgassing, low insertion loss, low leakage. Excellent VSWR for both the antenna under the hat and the hat port. Reactive design, intended for use with multiple antenna elements to form an array on the spacecraft (for example, one antenna pointing at the zenith, the other at nadir) (inquire for more information)

Services:

Testing: - for antennas and other space components - ADC-0812271523 R6 Testing & Simulation Capabilities Data Sheet.pdf

· Thermal Vacuum – In-house vacuum chamber with pressures to < 10-5 Torr, temperatures from -120 C to +120 C. Instrumented to monitor electrical performance (VSWR, S11, S21) of antennas, splitter/combiners, and other microwave equipment. Test protocols developed by AntDevCo.

· Multipaction – In-house S-band and X-band capabilities. Special test articles are used to confirm technique prior to testing flight units. Power to 40 Watts, L through S-band. Power to 100 Watts at X-band. Test protocols developed by AntDevCo.

· Mechanical Shock – In-house shock test to pyro shock levels associated with launch stage separation. Test protocols developed by AntDevCo.

· Antenna Pattern – External vendor performs antenna radiation pattern testing to AntDevCo developed requirements, AntDevCo provides detailed antenna performance analysis. Coverage, antenna pattern analysis, and other detailed graphical presentations.

· Vibration Testing – External vendor performs vibration analysis to AntDevCo developed requirements.

Design and Analysis: - for antennas, link budgets, antenna performance on spacecraft - ADC-0812271523 R6 Testing & Simulation Capabilities Data Sheet.pdf

· Ansoft Designer computer aided antenna designs

· Autodesk Inventor mechanical computer aided design

· Autodesk ALGOR mechanical system simulation (finite element analysis)

· Numerical Electromagnetic Code (NEC) analysis of wire antennas

· NEC-BSC analysis of spacecraft interactions with antenna radiation patterns.

· Link budget analysis (our engineers have more than 20 years of experience with the TDRS System)

· Other antenna technology designs: Horns, reflectors, wire antennas, wide bandwidth reflectors.

Contact AntDevCo: Solutions to spacecraft low to medium data rate antennas –

ADC-0603181506 R2 - How to Specify and Order Antennas.pdf

www.AntDevCo.com BBlevins@AntDevCo.com TGreenling@AntDevCo.com (575) 541-9319

In-Depth Documents:

ISO 9001:2008 Certification

1. Press Release: ADC-0808271504 - ISO 9001-2000 Press Release.pdf

2. Certificate: ISO Cert from Platinum 2011.pdf

Small Spacecraft Antennas

3. ADC-0807201342 - R0 Small Satellite Antenna Paper.htm

Small Spacecraft Antenna Selection Tutorial:

4. ADC-0807201305 - R0 Small Spacecraft Antenna Selection Tutorial.pdf

Detailed heritage of our antennas

5. ADC-0601291440 R2 Spacecraft Antenna & Hats Catalog.pdf

AntDevCo Corporate Data Sheet:

6. ADC-0512012131 R1 Corporate data sheet.pdf

How to specify and order Patch Antennas

7. ADC-0603181506 R2 - How to Specify and Order Antennas.pdf

Monofilar Helix Spacecraft Low/Medium Gain Antennas

8. ADC-0601010841 R1 Helix Antenna Data Sheet.pdf

Quadrifilar Helix Spacecraft Low Gain Antennas:

9. ADC-0509251050 R1 Spacecraft Quadrifilar Helix Antenna data.pdf

Quadrifilar Helix Spacecraft Low Gain Antennas Poster:

10. ADC-0601011244 QHA poster.pdf

Evolved X-band Spacecraft Low Gain Antennas:

11. ADC-0603251556 R3 Spacecraft Evolved Antenna data.pdf

Microstrip Patch Spacecraft Low Gain Antennas:

12. ADC-0509251107 R3 Patch Antenna data sheet.pdf

Microstrip Patch Spacecraft Medium Gain Antennas:

13. ADC-0512271640 R2 4-Patch Array data sheet.pdf

Patch Antenna Couplers & Consulting:

14. ADC-0509251102 Patch Antennas Couplers & Consulting data.pdf

UHF Patch Antennas for Spacecraft:

15. ADC-0806051128 R2 UHF Patch Antenna data sheet.pdf

Environmental Test Capabilities:

16. ADC-0812271523 R6 Testing & Simulation Capabilities Data Sheet.pdf

Registered Trademark: Our notional patch antenna radiation pattern is now registered with the US Office of Patents and Trademarks.

17.

Antenna Development Corporation:

Please contact us for additional in-depth information. Note that certain ITAR restrictions limit our ability to supply certain details to foreign or other entities or individuals.

Facilities and Local Area:

AntDevCo operates out of an 2100 square foot office/high bay facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We are close to the New Mexico State University with its Physical Science Laboratory antenna test facilities, machine shops, and highly qualified professors and scientists.  There are machine shops in the Las Cruces area with long experiences in aerospace products due to the proximity of White Sands Missile Range, NASA White Sands Test Facility, NASA TDRSS ground stations, and the soon-to-be-opened New Mexico Space Port. The El Paso metropolitan area, with its international airport and a population of over 1 million people, is only 50 minutes away. See ADC-0512012131 R1 Corporate data sheet.pdf for additional information.

History:

AntDevCo is New Mexico Sub-Chapter S Corporation formed in June of 2005 by Dr. Bruce Blevins and Mr. Thomas Greenling. We are a spin-off from the Physical Science Laboratory at New Mexico State University. As such, AntDevCo is able to use and improve the designs for spacecraft antennas developed by PSL. The two principals of AntDevCo have an aggregate experience of more than 40 years of antenna design, test, and manufacture.  Dr. Blevins has designed antennas for experimental astrophysics receivers, radars, and many small spacecraft and missiles.  Thomas Greenling began his antenna career with the repair of submarine antennas while in the Navy and has also designed numerous antennas for spacecraft and missiles.  Dr. Blevins owned and operated his own company, (Tesota Products Antenna Division - TPAD) in the 90’s and started his production of antennas for small spacecraft at that time.  Blevins and Greenling then worked together at the Electromagnetics group at PSL from 1997 through 2005 on many antenna programs for manufacturing and test.  We have personally been the leaders in the development of the low gain antennas for the TERRIERS, HETE, THEMIS, MIGHTYSAT, ALEXIS (Blackbeard), GENESIS, STARDUST, ROADRUNNER, ST-5, and HESSI spacecrafts – to name a few.  We designed the antenna for the General Dynamics Viceroy spacecraft GPS receiver – flown on many spacecraft.  This PSL experience, our full commitment to continuing the quality practices developed at PSL, and the detailed design information available to us from PSL establishes AntDevCo flight heritage for our spacecraft products.

We have also been the design engineers for a number of sounding rocket, ballistic missiles, and ballistic missile target vehicle antennas as subcontractors for BMD and other programs.  For example, Dr. Blevins led the PSL effort to develop and manufacture antennas for the MOD-7 wafer used in the sustaining flight tests of the Minuteman III missile.  We have also designed and developed a number of antenna hats (couplers) for spacecraft and missile antenna systems. 

News:

· IRIS and LADEE antennas in work

· AntDevCo now accepts credit cards – you government people can now make purchases more easily! Call for arrangements.

· GRAIL antennas delivered and moon-bound spacecraft launched September 10, 2011. See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/grail/main/index.html

· 13 dB gain SN Helix array completed (ISS project– more information on request)

· C-band and S-band Quadrifilar Helix Antennas delivered - (more information on request)

· AntDevCo maintains ISO 9001:2008 Certification: Summer 2011. (See items 1 & 2 above)

· Antennas developed by Blevins and Greenling fly on the ST-5 spacecraft (March 22, 2006). See the story at http://spaceflightnow.com/pegasus/st5/status.html

· Recent AntDevCo Antenna Launch – a TDRSS antenna on the Cosmic spacecraft http://www.cosmic.ucar.edu/about.html

See http://www.spacearchive.info/vafbsked.htm for the launch schedule and status.

Contact AntDevCo:

http://www.antdevco.com/ (575) 541-9319 (main number)

CAGE Code:         46ER1

NAICS Code:        334220

Address: 151 South Walnut Street, Suite B6

Las Cruces, NM 88001-2614

Dr. Bruce Blevins BBlevins@AntDevCo.com (575) 635-3528 (cell phone)

Thomas Greenling TGreenling@AntDevCo.com (575) 644-1527 (cell phone)

Call for FAX number (we prefer email)

Updated: 21 August, 2011