Improvements to broadband Dual Ridge waveguide horn Antennas

Dual-Ridged Horn Antenna (DRHA) are a workhorse in EMC and antenna pattern measurement laboratories. Their broadband capability allows the user to test over a wide frequency ranges without the need to stop the test to change antennas. Recently these antennas came under scrutiny when Burns et al. showed the pattern problems at the upper end of their band. Since their work new models have been introduced that corrected the problems of the DRHA in the 1 to 18 GHz range. In the present paper a CEM software is used to analyze the 200 MHz to 2 GHz design. Gain and pattern are computed. A prototype of the new version is measured. The measured results validate the computed predictions. The result is a DRHA with a smoother gain and pattern. This antenna maintains a single lobe in at a higher frequency than the traditional DRHA.