Large scale antenna pattern measurements

Redstone Technical Test Center (RTTC) is a Department of Defense (DoD) Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3) test facility. RTTC facilities include a suite of amplifiers, antennas, and instrumentation that are used to perform E3 tests on military as well as commercial platforms. As more and more wireless communication and control systems are added to military platforms, system interoperability in a joint tactical environment has become an increasing concern. Among the more critical issues of interoperability is antenna placement. This is especially true on rotorcraft platforms where aerodynamics and RF propagation are both issues. Antennas must be mounted in a manner in which they do not interfere with nor do they cause interference to other systems on the platform, and they must also be mounted such that they are able to effectively transmit and receive signals. In order to quickly and quantitatively evaluate multiple antenna mounting positions on a single platform, the development of a low-cost ground based antenna pattern measurement system is presented.