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FINAL REPORT 

BIT II MISSION 7064 

19 May 1966 

Cy / of 7 cys 

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FINAL REPORT 

BIT II MISSION 7064 

1. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES. 

The objective of this program is to determine if and when 

the AGENA vehicle is tracked by a radar operating in the 150- to 300-MHz 

frequency range. The BIT II system, designed to fulfill this objective, 

covers this VHF band with a hunt-lock on receiver which searches for 

strong signals having wide pulse widths characteristic of long range 

surveillance and tracking radars. On those signals which qualify, the 

system locks on to determine if the emitter is continuously tracking the 

vehicle. Gross parameter measurements are made diiring this period 

which enable an analyst to determine the signal characteristics for possible 

emitter identification. 

2. MISSION SUMMARY. 

2. 1 Mission Highlights. 

The BIT II system intercepted the signal on 3 February 

from 0805:14Z to 0809:12Z during orbit 7 and on 10 February from 0740: 36Z 

to 0743:29Z during orbit 118. The characteristics of the intercept data 

indicate that the emitter did not continuously track the AGENA vehicle on 

either occasion. 

The emitter was also noted to be active on orbit 117 

during the period from 0609: 59Z to 0610:51Z on 10 February. This back 

lobe intercept consisted of five short signal bursts which occurred during 

the 4 minute period as the vehicle passed north and east of Sary Shagan. 

The system made numerous intercepts of several allied 

radars during the course of this mission which provided good operational 

checks on the system. These radars included the 

Several TALL KING radars were also observed. 

There was no indication of vehicle tracking by any of these emitters. 

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2.2 Flight Summary. 

Vehicle Number 1623 

Launch Date 2 February 19 66 

Launch Time 2139Z 

Inclination 75 degrees 

Apogee 234.5 nautical miles 

Perigee 99 nautical miles 

Period 90.5 minutes 

BIT II System Serial No. 1 

2.3 Mission Coverage. 

The mission, which was launched on 2 February, was 

terminated after read out on orbit 194 at approximately 0240Z on 

15 February. Although originally scheduled for 200 orbits, the mission 

was prematurely terminated because of battery power depletion. During 

the mission four read out events were missed resulting in the loss of 

data from orbits 108-110, 126-128, and 155-159, in addition to those 

data from orbits 195-200 which were lost because of premature termination. 

The system was typically operated whenever the vehicle was above 10 degrees 

North latitude.. Once during each 24 hour period, it was operated during 

an entire orbit. 

3. OPERATIONAL RESULTS. 

3.1 Intercept - Orbit 7. 

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3. 1 -- Continued. 

3. 2 Intercept - Orbit 117. 

Signal Time Vehicle Position Altitude 

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3. 2 -- Continued. 

3. 3 

Altitude 

Intercept - Orbit 118. 

Tim e Vehicle Position 

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. 3 -- Continued. 

3.4 Other Intercepts. 

4. SYSTEM PERFORMANCE. 

4.1 Specifications. 

(a) Frequency Coverage 146 to 310 MHz 

(b) Receiver Detection Sensitivity -61 dbm Low Channel 

-37 dbm High Channel 

(c) Receiver Bandpass 4.5 MHz 

(d) Image Rejection 50 db 

(e) Pulse Width Qualification 20 microseconds 

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4.1 -- Continued. 

(f) Measurement Ranges 

Amplitude -61 to -30 dbm Low Channel 

-37 to 0 dbm High Channel 

Pulse Interval 3 to 100 milliseconds Low Channel 

2 to 50 milliseconds High Channel 

Pulse Width 20 to 2000 microseconds 

Pulse Count 50-1500 Non-Qualified 

10-500 Qualified 

Discriminator Range -5 to +3 MHz centered at 70 MHz 

(g) Duration of Sweep Lock 4.5 seconds 

4.2 System Operation. 

A general description of the BIT II system is given in 

the Appendix of the Final Report for Mission 7063. The system block 

diagram is shown in Figure 2. 

The BIT II unit used on this mission functioned properly 

throughout the mission. The abnormal susceptibility to noise generated 

by the unit itself and by the vehicle was greatly reduced in comparison 

to the unit used on Mission 7063. It was, however, still susceptible to 

false pulse qualification in dense signal environments. This was caused 

by an approximate 15 microsecond decay time in the pulse width qualifier. 

If narrow pulses occurred sufficiently close together, such as three 

5 microsecond pulses each separated by 5 microseconds, the PWQ 

integrator would not fully discharge at the end of each pulse and the circuit 

would eventually charge up to the qualification point. To correct this 

condition in all subsequent units, the PWQ integrator was modified so 

that it would be actively discharged at the end of each pulse. The decay 

time of the modified circuit is now less than 0.5 microsecond. 

The BIT II system used on this mission and the systems 

to be used on subsequent flights are subject to generating misleading 

frequency and amplitude measurements when signal parameters are being 

measured in dense signal environments. When measuring the parameters 

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ANTENNA 

INPUT 

TUNABLE 

PRESELECTOR 

PI 

INTEGRATOR 

2-50 MS 

(5) RCVR 

T VIDEO 

0 

VIDEO 

AMP 

4 

256 

2048 

GATE 

CONTROL 

COUNTER 

RESET 

A 

RESET 

PW-B1 0 

PW-B2 0 

PW-B3 0 

DIODE 

GATE 

- 

PLD-B 

 AMPLITUDE 

TO -35 DBM 

GATE 

PI-B1 

PI-B2 

PI-B3 

PI-B4 

0 

0 

0 

0 

PC-B 

20-500 PPS 0 

PLD-C 

FREQ 0 

RESET 

RESET 

80-1500 

RESET 

x2 

RESET 

BIT II SYSTEM 

• lip•S 

•• 

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RESET 

PLD-A 

AMPLITUDE 

-37 TO -7 DBM 

POWER INPUT 

25 VDC 

15 MA 

CONTINUOUS 

SYSTEM 

CALIBRATOR 

256 SEC 

TRIG 

TIME 

REFERENCE 

GENERATOR 

+10V 

25 VDC 

140 MA 

PROGRAMMED 

SIGNAL 

DISTRIBUTION 

BOARD 

ttfttttt 

COMMUTATOR 

30 CH 1 POLE 

2.5 FPS 

A III 

DC-DC -6V TO DIODE 

CONVERTER +115V SY GATE 

0VOLT/ 

MON I 

6E, 

op. RE! 

SYSTEM 

COMM 

WAVE 

GATE 

SYSTEM INPUTS 

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4. 2 -- Continued. 

of a signal such as a 10-microsecond read gate is opened during 

each qualified pulse. If a narrow pulse is received simultaneously with 

this read gate, the amplitude and frequency measurements will be 

affected. The amplitude measurement will be increased by an amount 

dependent on the amplitude of the narrow pulse relative to the qualified 

pulse. The frequency measurement will respond to the higher of the two 

frequencies. Since the peak level detectors store the maximum values 

of these two parameters measured during a 400-millisecond commutator 

read in period, only one pulse in twenty (PRF of 50 pps) is required to 

have a simultaneous intercept with a narrow pulse in order to falsify 

the information. In a dense environment, this condition is very likely. 

The only way to significantly reduce this possibility of these erroneous 

measurements is to reduce the width of the read gate to the 5 microsecond 

minimum value and to modify the measurement circuitry so that the 

measurements would be made on only one pulse during each commutator 

read in period rather than taking the maximum reading during this period. 

This would not only have the advantage of reducing the probability of 

false measurements, but it would also tie all of the measurements to a 

particular pulse. This characteristic of the parameter measurement circuitry 

does not detract from the system's primary function of determining if 

the AGENA vehicle was tracked, but it does impair the capability to measure 

signal parameters in the presence of interfering signals. 

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