Radome design and measurements

Radome performance (transmission loss and boresight error) is evaluated by means of a computer code the input data of which are the geometry (radome shape, layered structure configuration, and antenna/radome relative position) and the antenna aperture magnetic current distribution. The latter is measured directly, thus avoiding the difficulty of characterizing the antenna under test. The spherical near field (SNF) measuring technique is applied. A radome has been designed using this approach and then manufactured and tested by means of a compact range. The comparison between experimental and theoretical results is quite good.<>