Effects of Antenna Under Test Positioner on the Measured Pattern of Antennas

Authors: Mark Ingerson, Gwenaël Dun, Vince Rodriguez
Publication: APS URSI 2024
Copyright Owner: NSI-MI Technologies

To measure the pattern of an antenna, regardless of if this is a near field or far field approach, the antenna under test (AUT) must be rotated in front of the range antenna. To accomplish this a mechanical device is used to rotate the AUT and position it in front of the range antenna. These positioners are typically made from metal or dielectrics. In this paper the effect of a metallic positioner on the pattern of an antenna is analyzed. The positioner is left untreated and then treated with two different configurations of RF absorber. The RF absorber treatments are a minimal coverage and a coverage where almost all the surfaces are treated. The results show that for lower gain antennas a more simplistic absorber treatment is preferrable. For higher gain antennas the treatment if not as critical and a simple treatment is sufficient.

View the paper