Recommendations for RF Absorber Treatment of Ranges Having a Movable Gantry or Multiple Probes

Authors: Mark Ingerson, Vince Rodriguez
Publication: AMTA 2023
Copyright Owner: NSI-MI Technologies

Absorber treatment for an anechoic range is designed to attenuate the potential reflections from the walls, ceiling, and floor and to keep a certain level below the direct path between the range antenna (or probe) and the quiet zone (or minimum radiated sphere for spherical near-field ranges). There are, however, some antenna measurement systems where the range changes or moves as the data is acquired. In some cases, the probe moves around the antenna-under-test (AUT) along a section of circle supported by an arch or a gantry. In other ranges, the multiple probes are switched on and off; these probes are supported by an arch. Because the direction of the range moves with respect to the walls, ceiling, and floor, it is a bit more complex to arrive to an optimal absorber layout, as well as locating the preferred placements for the instrument rack, door, and vents in the range.
In this paper, a higher-order-basis-function method of moments approach is used to model a gantry-supported probe as it moves around the location of the AUT. The power density at the walls as the probe moves is analyzed to arrive to an optimal absorber layout that will provide adequate levels of reflections for measuring an antenna. The paper looks at a gantry that moves from +135° to -135° with the AUT rotating 180° and for a gantry that moves from 0° to +135° with the AUT rotating 360°. The latter will require a smaller range with one of the walls closer to the location of the antenna under test.
A series of recommendations based on the electrical size of the absorber at different areas of the range are provided.

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