Instrumentation for Base Station and Earth Station Antenna Testing
Authors: Donald G. Bodnar and Jeffrey A. Fordham
Publication: AMTA 2001
Copyright Owner: NSI-MI Technologies
Modern base station antenna stresses antenna measurement instrumentation because of their narrower beamwidths and multi-sector characteristics. More complete testing must be performed preferably without appreciably increasing measurement time. MI Technologies has met this challenge by using increased automation and by designing its instrumentation specifically for antenna measurements. Earth station antennas require good polarization, gain, sidelobe, and multiband performance. The choice of an antenna test range to test an antenna is dependent on many factors, such as the directivity of the antenna under test (AUT), frequency range and desired test parameters. Care must be taken in the design of an antenna range to ensure that the performance parameters are measured with sufficient accuracy [1-5]. Often the mechanical features of the antenna (size, weight and volume) can have as much influence on the selection of an antenna range as do the electrical performance factors.