A simple and accurate method to measure the absolute gain patterns of antennas for marine, airbone, and coastal radars

We have developed a novel method to measure the absolute gain patterns of radar antennas that have elongated shapes such as marine, airborne, and coastal radars. This method requires an inexpensive and simple apparatus consisting of a turntable, a probe antenna, and a vector network analyzer. In addition, the measurement using this method can be done in high speed (a few minutes) at short distance (a few meters) and yields the antenna absolute gain pattern in the horizontal plane within 0.4 dB error at the peak and about 2 dB error at the 1st sidelobe level. The simulations and the measurements using an antenna for a S-band marine radar have demonstrated the usefulness of the method.