Antenna Pattern Measurement of the Large-Size Radio Telescope by Correlation Techniques and GNSS

It is a challenge to measure the antenna pattern of a large-sized radio telescope with a high resolution because it hardly rotates. This letter presents a simple and efficient method to measure the large-sized radio antenna pattern based on correlation techniques and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). We estimate the normalized pattern function of the electric field by utilizing correlation properties of the navigation signal in the auxiliary antenna and the radio antenna. The method avoids obtaining a large number of accurate pseudo-code information. Compared to the traditional methods based on the energy detection, the proposed method extends the measurement range and improves the measurement accuracy of the antenna pattern. At the same time, the method also has a better performance in anti-variation of channel and anti-interference.