The ground hardware will be accessible during the experiments, so we will have some flexibility to make decisions and adjustments much easier if the need arises, but the initial design for the duration of our collections will be as encompassing as possible. In the previous sections we discussed the different modulation techniques, antenna designs, and the like that will shape the hardware decisions we make in step two. In these hardware sections we talk about how those decisions will be factored in to the overall design of the experiments.

The atmospheric parameters (such as rain attenuation, gaseous absorption, sky noise, etc) [1] will be used to set the initial models. As discussed in that section, these variables can impair the communication along the high frequency band. This is alright, because we would like to measure just how each parameter effects the transitions. Antennas, amplifiers, and filters will need to be chosen based on the concluded model that will best analyze not only the values but the variation in these variables. Specifically, deep-fade antennas will be considered. Even though they are not normally considered for communication, their properties may become especially useful since the goal is to gather information over various circumstances. Below is an example of a block diagram layout for a ground transmitter in the W-band that is used on the DAVID project [2]. It is not exactly what ours would look like, but it demonstrates a good example of one that is currently designed.