Reflector Antennas . Reflectors are widely used to modify the radiation pattern of a radiating element. For example, the backward radiation from an antenna may be eliminated with a plane sheet reflector of large enough dimensions. In the more general case, a beam of pre-determined characteristics may be produced by means of a large, suitably shaped, and illuminated reflector surface. Reflector antenna is basically a combination of feed and reflecting surface to achieve high directivity at microwave frequencies. The feed is known as primary antenna and it can be slot, dipole or hom antenna The reflector is also known as secondary antenna and it is a metallic plate which may be curved or flat and used to direct the incident energy in a specific direction to achieve high directivity Applications: Radars, radio astronomy, microwave communication, and satellite tracking Reflectors of various shapes © Figure(a) has a large, flat sheet reflector near a linear dipole antenna to reduce the backward radiation. © With small spacings between the antenna and sheet, this arrangement also yields a substantial gain in the forward radiation. The desirable properties of the sheet reflector may be largely preserved with the reflector reduced in size as in figure(b) and even in the limiting case of figure(c). Here the sheet has degenerated into a thin reflector element. Whereas the properties of the large sheet are relatively insensitive to small frequency changes, the thin reflector element is highly sensitive to frequency changes. @ scanned with OKEN Scanner2 fat sheet Large fat sheet “hin near y relector | Driven element ee ain, Driven element (a) Large fat sheet (e)Smallfat shoot (Thin inoar reflector antonna s 2 ; A es é “2 8 7 XM lossnecme — mrmivecrme — grat — ere wae peta tte reflector (h) Eliptical efector (0 Hyperbolic reflector (@ Circular refector Fig. 261 Various possible configurations of reflector antennas «With two flat sheets intersecting at an angle a (< 180° ) as in figure(d), a sharper radiation pattern than fiom a flat sheet reflector (a = 180° ) can be sbtained. This arrangement, called an active comer reflector antenna, is most practical where apertures of | or 2A are of convenient size. @ scanned with OKEN Scanner‘A comer reflector without an exciting antenna can be used as a passive reflector or target or radar waves. In this application the aperture may be many wavelengths, and the comer angle is always 90°. Reflectors with this angle have the property that an incident wave is reflected back toward its source as in figure(e), the comer acting as a retroreflector. Parabolic reflectors can be used to provide highl shown in figure(f). The parabola reflects the waves originating from a source at the focus into a paralle! beam, the parabola transforming the curved wave front from the feed antenna at the focus into a plane wave front. ly directional antennas as Many other shapes of reflectors can be employed for special applications. cus, the elliptical reflector as shown in For instance, with an antenna at one fo figure (g) produces a diverging beam with all reflected waves passing through the second focus of the ellipse. Examples of reflectors of other shapes are the hyperbolic and the circular reflectors as shown in figure(h) and (i). “The surface generated by the revolution ofa parabola around its axis is called a paraboloid or a parabola of revolution. Jaced at the focus of a paraboloidal reflector as in radiation that is intercepted by the f circular cross section provided that by no more than a If an isotropic source is pl figure(a), the portion A of the source paraboloid is reflected as a plane wave 0 the reflector surface deviates from a true parabolic surface small fraction of a wavelength. tex of the paraboloid is an even | direction from the source will ntral region of the reflected If the distance L between the focus and vel number of A/4, the direct radiation in the axial be in opposite phase and will tend to cancel the ce wave. @ scanned with OKEN Scanner., the direct radiation in the axial © However, if L = na/4 where n = 1,3,5, -. se and will tend to reinforce direction from the source will be in the same pha’ the central region of the reflected wave. @ scanned with OKEN Scannerne an mm Plein fhe Anahatic reflector of fea pb yey gee 7 Proreple g, qonetete Rattner ann = To Taproww Sales ovindiil wadeadteoichane eens a paqlces antonno / Re jobelic Sfrasore etter — Pascal anabete > atocus open roMeh motor any Petia as Sant fh Ea Gnd, PO nove cohen! Shah doe {¢) Parabolic reflector ‘at receiving end ane GED + bohon {(b) Parabolic reflector at transmitting end x (a) Geometry of parabola @ scanned with OKEN ScannerPorabolic " the nafichor + [oe peas man te ee Da cated oP Bi a a aha goneboe s 4p travel Sethe sane Joie ees at onabala duztene op 4° Ba ene ty Phot ene al the a “Gan (ev te wane frend ot te phase pal and thes an ‘a cancer bea ablanadd ogee : ect, MLUICNODant. moat - oe . Laon ct nediaden bear pohied | 4 he oe sone functors ie ee Ll ae @ scanned with OKEN ScannerFeed systems for Parabolic Reflectors Axial/Front Feed: © The overall radiation characteristics (antenna pattern, antenna efficiency, polarization discrimination, etc.) of a reflector can be improved if the structural configuration of its surface is upgraded. * It has been shown by geometrical optics that if a beam of parallel rays is incident upon a reflector whose geometrical shape is a parabola, the radiation will converge (focus) at a spot which is known as the focal point. * In the same manner, if a point source is placed at the focal point, the rays reflected by a parabolic reflector will emerge as a parallel beam. This is one form of the principle of reciprocity, and it is demonstrated geometrically in the following figure. «The symmetrical point on the parabolic surface is known as the vertex. Rays that emerge in a parallel formation are usually said to be collimated. In practice, collimation is often used to describe the highly directional characteristics of an antenna even though the emanating rays are not exactly parallel. Since the transmitter (receiver) is placed at the focal point of the parabola, the configuration is usually known as front fed. A A/2 antenna with small ground plane is shown in figure(a) and a small horn antenna in figure(b). © Drawbacks: ‘The Presence of primary antenna in the path of reflected wave has 2 principal disadvantages: Waves reflected from the parabola back to the primary antenna produce interaction and mismatching. «Primary antenna acts as an obstruction, blocking out the central portion of the aperture and increasing the minor lobes. (Aperture Blockage). . Offset Feed: * Toeliminate some of the deficiencies of the symmetric configurations, offset parabolic reflector designs have been developed for single- and dual-reflector systems. @ scanned with OKEN Scanner* Offset-reflector designs reduce aperture blocking and VSWR. In addition, they lead to the use of larger f/d ratios while maintaining acceptable structural rigidity, which provide an opportunity for improved feed pattern shaping and better suppression of cross-polarized radiation emanating from the feed. © However, offset-reflector configurations generate cross-polarized antenna radiation when illuminated by a linearly polarized primary feed. Circularly polarized feeds eliminate depolarization, but they lead to squinting of the main beam from boresight. In addition, the structural asymmetry of the system major drawback is usually considered a Cassegrain Feed: at avoids placing the feed (transmitter and/or Another arrangement th igure, and it is receiver) at the focal point is that shown in the following fi known as the Cassegrain feed. Cassegrain, a famous astronomer (hence its © Through geometrical optics, name), showed that incident patallel rays can be focused to a point by utilizing two reflectors. « To accomplish this, the main (primary) reflector must be a parabola, the secondary reflector (subreflector) a hyperbola, and the feed placed along the axis of the parabola usually at or near the vertex. Cassegrain used this scheme to construct optical telescopes, and then its design was copied for use in radio frequency systems. © For this arrangement, the rays that emanate from the feed illuminate the subreflector and are reflected by it in the direction of the primary reflector, as if they originated at the focal point of the parabola (primary reflector). «The rays are then reflected by the primary reflector and are converted to parallel rays, provided the primary reflector is a parabola and the subreflector is a hyperbola. «© Diffractions occur at the edges of the subreflector and primary reflector, and they must be taken into account to accurately predict the overall system pattern, especially in regions of low intensity. Even in regions of high intensity, diffractions must be included if an accurate formation of the fine ripple structure of the pattern is desired. LT EO TIES @ scanned with OKEN Scanner* With the Cassegrain-feed arrangement, the transmitting and/or receiving equipment can be placed behind the primary reflector. This scheme makes the system relatively more accessible for servicing and adjustments. «In general, the Cassegrain arrangement provides a variety of benefits, such as the ability to place the feed in a convenient location reduction of spillover and minor lobe radiation ability to obtain an equivalent focal length much greater than the physical length © To achieve good radiation characteristics, the sub reflector o be several, at least a few, wavelengths in diameter. «However, its presence introduces shadowing which is the princ of its use as a microwave antenna. ‘The shadowing can significantly degrade the gain of the syste main reflector is several wavelengths in diameter. ‘Therefore, the Cassegrain is usually attractive for applications that require gains of 40 dB or greater. 1 subdish must ipal limitation m, unless the Gregorian Feed: angements is the classical Gregorian design as © One of the other reflector arr: shown in the following figure, where the main reflector is a parabola while the subreflector is a concave ellipse. The focal point is between the main reflector and subreflector. Its equivalent parabola is shown dashed in the figure. «When the overall size and the feed beamwidth of the classical Gregorian are jdentical to those of the classical Cassegrain, the Gregorian requires a shorter focal length for the main dish. @ scanned with OKEN ScannerReflector (parabola) cy /N2 antenna ‘and reflector Secon perm Hor 3 rir ‘Primary Mersey (focal point) Primary patton, pattern @ o Axial/Front Feed a Main reflector fo (parabola) Subreflector (hyperbola) econ pene Parabola : Feed @ focal Blockage i Horn c \ point 4 Primary eet \ pam gy _—__—— Offset feed Cassegrain Feed @ scanned with OKEN Scanner1 Equivalent suri Gregorian Feed @ scanned with OKEN Scanner