Probe compensation characterization in cylindrical near-field scanning

The authors present a computer simulation methodology for characterizing the role of probe compensation in cylindrical near-field scanning. The methodology is applied to a linear test array antenna and has been applied to other antenna configurations. Useful results are generated to compare the far-field pattern (copolar and crosspolar) of the test antenna constructed from the knowledge of the simulated near-field with and without probe pattern compensation and the exact results. Representative cases are shown for a seven element linear array. A probe with a low directivity, 5.5 dB, and an aperture radius of 0.3/spl lambda/ requires little probe correction in a wide angular range.<>