Open boundary quadridge horn antenna for the 80 MHz to 1 GHz range: A dual polarized solution for testing antennas in the VHF and UHF ranges

Over the past six years there has been an increasing interest within the defence industry in performing antenna measurements at very low frequencies. This presentation shows the concept of the open boundary quadridge horn (OBQH) introduced in 2005 now scaled to lower frequencies. The concept has been taking to extremes by also opening the feed cavity of the horn leaving a fully unbounded antenna. The resulting antenna, although large in size, offers excellent VSWR and gain. The antenna is designed to perform both as a standalone unit or mounted to the wall of a chamber nested in the absorber treatment.