Description
The objective of the project is to develop a compact light-weight (< 10 kg) dual-polarized first-order probe Near-Field measurements at 435±3 MHz frequency range (BIOMASS).
Existing probes for Spherical Near-Field (SNF) antenna measurements are either classical first-order probes based on conical horns and open-ended circular waveguides excited by the fundamental TE11-mode, or wide-band higher-order mode probes. In either case, these probes become excessively bulky and heavy at frequencies below 1 GHz.
In this project, a compact dual-polarized first-order P-band probe has been developed (Figure 1). The height of the probe is just 365 mm over a 720-mm circular ground plane and it weighs 7 kg. The probe covers the bandwidth 419-445 MHz with more than 9 dBi directivity and parasitic |μ| ≠ 1 spherical modes suppressed below −35 dB.
The probe has been designed, manufactured and tested by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
