Multi-Beam Lens-Reflector for Satellite Communications: Construction Issues and Ground Plane Effects
Conference: EuCAP 2009 - 3rd European Conference on Antennas and Propagation
03/23/2009 - 03/27/2009 at Berlin, Germany
Proceedings: EuCAP 2009
Pages: 4Language: englishTyp: PDF
Personal VDE Members are entitled to a 10% discount on this title
Authors:
Thornton, John; White, Andy (Department of Electronics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK)
Gray, Derek (Space Communications Group, NICT, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795, Japan)
Abstract:
A two-layer hemispherical lens is reported which, combined with a ground plane, comprises the focusing aperture in a multi-beam scanning antenna. The 61 cm diameter lens was fabricated from polyethylene and polystyrene dielectrics. The finite ground plane introduces a scanning loss since its truncation effectively reduces the aperture area: the effect becomes significant at low elevation angles. This scanning loss was investigated from a theory for the aperture plane distribution; measurements with the lens; and numerical modeling using the commercial solver FEKO. The lens gain is 35.5 dBi at 11.5 GHz, equivalent to a dish of similar area.