The satellite ferrimagnetic power limiter

Overview & Synopsis

To limit the 4080-mc local oscillator signal power input to the beat oscillator modulator of the Telstar satellite communications repeater, a subsidiary absorption limiter was used which consisted of an optically polished sphere of single-crystal yttrium iron garnet (YIG), placed in a resonant transmission cavity between the amplified 4080-mc output of the traveling-wave tube and the BO modulator input. The limiter holds the output power nearly constant above a given input threshold; below this threshold the YIG is linear and introduces only a small loss. The threshold is determined, for a given sample at a given frequency, by the external magnetic bias field. Temperature compensation over the desired range was obtained by orienting the crystal with the dc magnetic field along a [100] or “hard” axis. The total weight of the limiter package, including the bias magnet and cavity, is 13 ounces.