A High-Sensitivity Cryogenic Radio Receiver: Design, Performance and Polarization Analysis

Abstract

Large reflector antennas are subjected to testing for calibration accuracy and precision, ensuring signal reception sensitivity and consistent performance across an extended frequency range. In this paper, we introduce a cryogenic radio receiver which is placed on a 5.3 m reflector with a gain of 60.19 dB. This antenna serves as the reference antenna for holographic calibration measurements with the measured G/Tsys ~42 dB/K. The receiver provides a bandwidth of 2 GHz (21-23 GHz), the receiver's noise temperature is 19.55, and The polarization conversion yields an Axial Ratio (AR) of less than 1.3 dB.