26 February 2002
To enhance the service provided to customers, European Antennas has built a new spherical near field test facility on site to provide a fast supply of radiation pattern data to accompany existing and new antennas, and to verify specifications during the development procedure. Data can be provided in a variety of different formats to meet customers' exact requirements.
The spherical near field principle of operation involves measuring the radiation from a device under test around a full sphere that encloses the product. When data has been measured in two orthogonal polarisations it is possible to calculate the far field radiation pattern of the antenna in any direction required. This can be done for any required polarisation, linear or circular, at any required angle. The sphere enclosing the antenna needs to be defined in the measurement set-up for the antenna under test. The software controlling the system calculates the step size required to build up the data set from which far field patterns can be calculated.
An additional benefit of a near field test facility is the ability to perform back projections on to a given plane within the measurement sphere. It is possible to determine the effects of coupling within a circuit which may cause amplitude and phase corruption within an array or if there is any unwanted radiation off the feed circuit.
Contact us direct for more information: newmarket.sales@cobham.com, or telephone +44 (0)1638 732177.
