Development and Usage of IF Recorders in Range Systems

Abstract

Accurate reproduction of RF transmissions for test and development has been out of reach for some time. The testing of RF equipment, multipath generation and downstream TM processing systems has been done in the past with varying levels of accuracy. In the past the techniques of checking TM equipment worked, but lacked realism that real TM transmissions provide. This paper describes the development of an IF recorder for range TM. We discuss the usage of a recorder with multiple channels, time correlation, channel skew capability, IF over IP capabilities and file management will allow repeatable, realistic testing of TM systems.