The Multiplate Antenna

Allan C. Schell · Peter R. Franchi · William Bernard Goggins · George R. Forbes

Jan 1966 · Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, Office of Aerospace Research, United States Air Force

About this ebook

The multiplate technique is a method of antenna design that is intended to allow the economical construction of very large antennas. The aperture area is divided into a large number of reflectors that can be adjusted in orientation and height. These plates are positioned so that energy from a desired direction is redirected to add at the focus. In this paper an analysis of the effects caused by the interstices in a multiple plate antenna is presented. The loss due to gaps and shadowing, the variation in effective receiving cross section, and the radiation pattern are determined. The bandwidth properties of this type of antenna are analyzed, and methods for reducing the effect of frequency dispersion on the pattern are presented. A short discussion of the components of a 2500-ft multiplate antenna is included. An experimental program of measurement has determined the radiation pattern, the efficiency and the relative change of gain and antenna temperature versus beam angle of a test section of a multiplate antenna. The effect of the interstices in the reflecting surface produced grating lobes of approximately -20 dB and an additional temperature component that varied from 20K - 65K depending on the beam angle. (Author).