Compact Reflector Antenna System for Ku-Band Satcom on the Move (SOTM)

In this paper, a design and simulation analysis of a Hat-Feed based 0.8-meter Reflector antenna for Ku-Band SATCOM on the move (SOTM) application is presented. The antenna geometry consists of a Sub-1M ring focus reflector antenna with self-supporting dielectric hat-feed. The hat-feed was selected due to its low side-lobe and low cross polarization. The hat-feed was analyzed and optimized for a wide bandwidth (30%) operation in Ku-Band. The reflector antenna was simulated and optimized for phase center for full SATCOM Ku band (10.95GHz to 14.5GHz). A prototype has been realized and tested in Near-field for technology validation. In measurement, the antenna efficiency above 70% and cross-polarization (on-axis) better than 30dB has been achieved. The antenna radiation pattern has low side-lobes, meeting the ITU-580.6 regulatory requirement in the transmit band (13.75-14.5GHz). Also, the high gain in Receive band (10.94GHz-12.75GHz) provides sufficient gain margin for achieving good G/T system performance.