Disclosed is a superconducting filter apparatus having a refrigerator for
cooling the superconducting filter to cryogenic temperatures, a pilot
signal generator for generating a pilot signal that is outside the pass
band and inputting the pilot signal to the superconducting filter
together with an antenna receive signal, and a discriminating unit for
discriminating abnormality in the refrigerator. If the refrigerator
malfunctions and temperature of the superconducting filter rises, the
pass band of the superconducting filter shifts to the low-frequency side
and crosses the frequency of the pilot signal. The pilot signal passes
through the superconducting filter at this time. The discriminating unit
discriminates abnormality in the refrigerator based upon the pilot signal
contained in the output of the superconducting filter.