A radiometric antenna gain calibration method

A radiometric method is presented for measuring the power gain of a microwave antenna. It is particularly applicable to horns with gains in the range 20-45 dB, and an absolute uncertainty (
3\sigma
) of less than 0.1 dB is achievable in favorable cases. An absorbing screen with a circular aperture is placed in the far-field of the test antenna. The diameter of the aperture is chosen to subtend an angle much smaller than the main lobe of the radiation pattern of the test antenna. Then two sheets of microwave absorber (one at ambient temperature and the other cooled to the boiling point of liquid nitrogen) are alternately placed first behind the screen aperture and then, for normalization, across the aperture of the test horn. The ratio of the antenna temperature differences measured with a sensitive microwave radiometer is proportional to the effective antenna solid angle, and thus its directivity. Corrections must be applied for near-field effects, diffraction at the screen aperture, partial resolution of the screen aperture by the main lobe of the test antenna pattern, and ohmic losses. A comparison of black disk measurements using a large conical horn at 86 GHz with theoretical calculations confirms the accuracy of this gain calibration technique.