Effect of random surface errors on radiation characteristics of the side-fed offset Cassegrain antenna

Abstract

In this paper the average power pattern of the side-fed offset Cassegrain (SFOC) dual reflector antenna is analyzed, and the effect of the random surface error on radiation characteristics of the antenna is introduced. Here, the random surface error is defined as the error of the standard reflector in its normal direction and the errors in a small zone of the reflector are considered as equal. We also assume that the phase error on the aperture led by the random surface error obeys a Gaussian distribution with zero mean, under which the expression of the average power pattern is deduced. Finally, the data related to the radiation characteristics of the antenna are calculated and the corresponding curves are presented. The obtained results can be used for the user to determine the manufacturing accuracy of the reflector of the SFOC antennas.

Keywords

reflector antenna, average power pattern, random surface error, Gaussian distribution