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HyperTrack™
Software Instruction
111
Quasonix, Inc.
8.4.4
“Prop Chop” Filtering
A specific form of incidental AM is caused by rotating surfaces on the aircraft. These can be either the rotors on a
helicopter or the propeller blades on a propeller-driven airplane. When the telemetry signal either passes through or
reflects from these rotating elements, a highly periodic form of incidental AM is imposed on the RF signal. A
screenshot from the built-in oscilloscope that is part of the HTAC is shown in Figure 131. This view shows 62 ms of
data that was captured during recent testing at the US Army Yuma Proving Ground, operating at 4500 MHz.
Figure 131: Prop-chop Displayed On the HyperTrack
™
Antenna Controller (HTAC)
This periodic disturbance in the detected AM results in rotor-rate sidebands appearing on the SCM scanning signal,
as shown in Figure 132. These sidebands can severely disrupt the detection of the SCM feed scanning signal and
cause antenna mis-tracking.