A simple method of reducing grating lobes

The author previously proposed a simple method of reducing a grating lobe in a 16 element array which is used for satellite communication (Toyama, N., IEEE AP-S Int. Symp. Digest, vol.2, p.484-7, 2003). Unfortunately, the grating lobe was not low enough to satisfy the side lobe requirements specified for that array. This paper presents the results of the continued work where the author has succeeded in reducing the grating lobe as much as 10 dB. The side lobes in the direction of the geostationary arc of the satellite can be dramatically reduced by slightly moving all 16 elements of the array.