Evaluation of a Ku band printed circuit slot array antenna using planar near-field measurements

In this paper, measurements of a printed circuit slot array post-wall waveguide antenna at Ku band frequencies (12.2 GHz to 12.7 GHz) using a planar near-field range are described and results are presented here in details. It is shown that the planar near-field measurements provide complete characterization of the printed circuit slot array antenna. The measured beam tilt angle in elevation at 12.45 GHz also has been shown to exactly match the design tilt angle of 45deg. In addition, over the DBS frequency range of 12.2 to 12.7 GHz, the corresponding elevation tilt angle changes from about 37deg to 53deg. Overall, the measured peak gain, axial ratio, and sidelobe level are as expected at 12.45 GHz and 12.7 GHz. However, further improvement in both peak gain and axial ratio is still needed at 12.2 GHz. Development of such structure is one of the important steps towards developing low profile mobile planar DBS antennas