EHF SATCOM monopulse antenna

The author describes a coaxial dual band monopulse feed design specifically tailored to the EHF (extremely high-frequency/SATCOM frequency bands. The device utilizes low-loss waveguide circuits throughout and employs a corrugated feed horn that provides symmetrical primary patterns with steeply tapered skirts. The dimensions in the horn throat/coaxial section were empirically adjusted for good primary patterns in the 45 GHz band. Fortuitously, this also provided good primary performance in the 21 GHz band. In the autotrack mode, the phase and amplitude of the error channel are compared with those of the data channel to obtain tracking error magnitude and sense. The feed and test antenna geometries are described. Measured performance demonstrating nominal efficiencies in the 55%-60% range, along with good pattern, phase, and impedance match, is presented