DSS 14 antenna calibrations for GSSR/VLA Saturn radar experiments

The DSS 14 pointing and gain were calibrated to support X-band bistatic radar observations of Saturn's rings. The observations used the Goldstone Solar System Radar and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico. The pointing calibrations were based on conscan offset data collected during Voyager 1 and 2 support passes. The conscan data show angle-of-arrival sensing with no bias and 0.3 mdeg 1-sigma error. Using the calibrations, demonstrated blind pointing performance on Saturn was less than 3 mdeg 1-sigma error. Meteorological observations at the site were used to reduce elevation errors caused by atmospheric refraction. The techniques used corrected about one-third of the error-poorer than expected performance.