Caustic-Matching: A New Technique for Improving Limited-Scan Antennas

Abstract

Reflector antennas designed with the aid of a technique by which the caustics of the subreflector are matched to those of the main reflector are shown to have the improved limited-sector-scanning capabilities. The matching is achieved over angular scanning sectors of interest by positioning and shaping subreflectors for parabolic cylinder and paraboloidal antennas. The important applications are in the traffic control radars and satellite communications where a small-aperture subreflector can be illuminated by a plane-wave source such as a small phased array, resulting in high-grain limited-scan beam-steering on a large-aperture reflector.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 17, 1974
Accession Number
ADA007665

Entities

People

  • Carlyle J. Sletten
  • F. Sheppard Holt

Organizations

  • Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Antenna Radiation Patterns
  • Antennas
  • Arrays
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Beam Steering
  • Caustics
  • High Gain
  • Phased Arrays
  • Plane Waves
  • Radiation Patterns
  • Reflectors
  • Satellite Communications
  • Scanning
  • Security
  • Steering
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Phased Array Antenna Design.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Space Objects