The Precision Radio Instrument for Antenna Measurements (PRIAM): measurement strategy

The emergence of experimental 21-cm cosmology engenders unique challenges towards its instrumentation. The presence of bright foregrounds consisting of Galactic and extragalactic synchrotron emission several orders of magnitude higher than the expected highly- redshifted 21-cm line places high precision requirements on the antenna beam. We present an antenna calibration technique that utilizes a drone with high precision positioning and unique modulation techniques to measure the complex voltage beam of an antenna-under-test (AUT) to the required degree of precision.