Antenna Pattern Effects in a Low Sidelobe Circularly Polarized Planar Array Due to Element Errors

Random amplitude and phase errors at the elements of a phased array antenna cause elevated sidelobe levels. Formulas for predicting the sidelobe levels based on the error statistics are well known. These same random errors also cause an error in the axial ratio of a circular polarized array. This paper presents some new expressions for the change in axial ratio as a function of the random errors.