Antenna Gain and Factor Extraction of EMC Test Antennas by Two- and Three-Antenna Measurement Methods in a Comparative Manner

The two and three-antenna measurement methods are well-known techniques for characterizing the antenna gain and antenna factor and are often utilized for calibrating the test antennas. This paper presents the antenna gain and antenna factor extractions of horn-type EMC test antennas from both two and three-antenna measurement results. Three same-type horn antennas, operating up to 18 GHz, are measured in three different combinations as pairs. The antenna gains and antenna factors are first extracted from each pair (two-antenna) measurements separately and then also extracted simultaneously from all three measurement combinations (three-antenna). Extracted results show that the antenna’s identicalness is a necessity to achieve accurate results in two-antenna measurement results, while the three-antenna method does not rely on the identicalness of the three antennas.