At 04:49 PM 4/28/2010, Franklin Antonio wrote:

At 05:25 PM 4/28/2010, Robert Bruninga wrote:

...

I may have an opportunity to begin planning for a major building upgrade at my school and want to propose a modern root-top antenna lab.

Most antenna test labs now use anechoic chambers rather than rooftops. . _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

In 1966 I started my career as an R&D technician (took a leave from school for a couple years). We built asw weapons (i.e. sonobuoys) in an old brick three story factory with a flat roof. They test dropped the buoys over the side of the building 30-feet into a large vat of water, but the roof was the antenna test range. There I ran tests on VHF antennas. Not a very sophisticated range but definitely "hands on", real RF, real measurements. An engineers calculator was a slide rule, no computers then; fancy computer simulation was unknown.

Mostly, I did troubleshooting of the engineering prototypes and finding fixes. Those went back to the engineers to fine tune their design. I quit that and returned to college in summer 1968 and landed a job with Hughes Aircraft in CA. 1971 found me working at Goldstone at the Microwave Test Facility also known as the "antenna range". The rest they say is history.

73, Ed