RANCANGAN ANTENA MIKROSTRIP RECTANGULAR ARRAY UNTUK PENERIMA SATELIT FREKUENSI KA-BAND // DESIGN OF A RECTANGULAR MICROSTRIP ARRAY ANTENNA FOR KA-BAND SATELLITE RECEIVERS

Antena parabola konvensional pada pesawat menimbulkan hambatan aerodinamis yang signifikan, terutama pada pesawat ringan seperti Piper Seneca V. Penelitian ini merancang antena mikrostrip rectangular array berprofil rendah untuk penerima satelit Ka-Band (20 GHz), sekaligus membandingkan performa substrat FR-4 Epoxy dan Rogers RT5880. Menggunakan metode Rancang Bangun (Engineering Design) Level 1 dan pendekatan Eksperimental Kuantitatif, perancangan dilakukan murni berbasis simulasi perangkat lunak CST Studio Suite 2022, meliputi sintesis dimensi Patch, teknik slot untuk pelebaran bandwidth, dan konfigurasi Array 4x8 (32 elemen) dengan corporate feed network. Hasil simulasi menunjukkan antena berbasis Rogers RT5880 mencapai VSWR 1,27, Return Loss -18,56 dB, Gain 16,48 dBi, dan Bandwidth 258 MHz, jauh melampaui FR-4 Epoxy yang hanya mencapai Gain 3,614 dBi akibat loss tangent tinggi. Hasil ini membuktikan Rogers RT5880 jauh lebih layak digunakan untuk aplikasi antena satelit Ka-Band berprofil rendah dibanding FR-4 Epoxy. // Conventional parabolic antennas on aircraft cause significant aerodynamic drag, particularly on light aircraft such as the Piper Seneca V. This research designs a low-profile rectangular microstrip array antenna for Ka-Band (20 GHz) satellite reception, comparing performance between FR-4 Epoxy and Rogers RT5880 substrates. Using a Level 1 Engineering Design method combined with a Quantitative Experimental approach, the design process was conducted entirely through software simulation using CST Studio Suite 2022, including Patch dimension synthesis, a slotting technique for bandwidth enhancement, and a 4x8 (32-element) Array configuration with a corporate feed network. Simulation results show the Rogers RT5880-based antenna achieves a VSWR of 1.27, Return Loss of -18.56 dB, Gain of 16.48 dBi, and Bandwidth of 258 MHz, far surpassing FR-4 Epoxy, which only reached 3.614 dBi Gain due to its high loss tangent. These results confirm Rogers RT5880 is far more suitable for low-profile Ka-Band satellite antenna applications than FR-4 Epoxy.