Welcome to the AMTA paper archive. Select a category, publication date or search by author.
(Note: Papers will always be listed by categories. To see ALL of the papers meeting your search criteria select the "AMTA Paper Archive" category after performing your search.)
The fast fourier transform capabilities of the Hewlett-Packard 8510 Network Analyzer provide the basis for an RCS measurement system covering the 50 MHz to 26 GHz frequency range. When used in the broadband mode, fine range resolution is achieved. Vector subtraction and gating capabilities permit the acquisition of accurate data in the presence of strong range reflections. Combining this instrument with a high speed data collection and analysis system yields a powerful RCS measurement capability.
A monostatic radar measurement system at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Test Center (PACMISTESTCEN) located at Pt. Mugu, California was utilized to obtain incidence angle performance of radar absorbing structure (RAS) panels. The traditional methods of obtaining reflectivity data for absorptive materials over a range of incidence angles is a technique known as the NRL arch. Developed over 30 years ago by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the technique utilizes moveable bistatic antennas on an arch equidistant from the test material panel in order to obtain incidence angle data.
The measurement of microwave antennas indoors began with the advent of commercial absorbing material. The use of absorbers can be traced back to a 2 gHz material developed by the Dutch in the Thirties. During the Forties, considerable progress was made on absorbing materials, but even after World War II, security considerations limited the application. Some materials found use as indoor shields for antenna tests, but limited bandwidth limited the utility of these materials. When a broad band absorber was developed the antenna experts did not believe that this material would be made commercially because they presumed a limited market.
A classical problem encountered when measuring the far-field radiation pattern of an antenna in a medium-distance range is the degradation that occurs when undesirable reflections (from the ground or nearby objects) are present. To reduce this problem, the source and test antennas are often installed on towers to remove them from the reflective objects, RF absorptive materials are used to reduce the magnitude of the reflected signals, and often the reflective objects in the range are adjusted in order to null out the reflections and “clean up” the range. These solutions are often limited in their effectiveness and can be prohibitively expensive to implement.
This paper describes a diagnostic RCS measurement system which uses a low-power, wideband, linear-FM radar to provide RCS responses of targets as a function of frequency, range, cross range, and angle. Range and frequency responses are produced by using an FFT analyzer and a desktop computer to perform on-line signal processing and provide rapid access to final results. Two-dimensional maps of the target RCS distribution in range and cross range are obtained by offline processing of recorded data. The system processes signals resulting from a swept bandwidth exceeding 3GHz to provide range resolution of less than 10 cm. The various operating modes of the instrumentation provide a powerful tool for RCS diagnostic efforts in which individual scattering sources must be isolated and characterized. Several examples of experimental results and presented to demonstrate the utility and performance limits of the instrumentation. The examples include results obtained from measurements of a number of simple and complex shapes and of some commercially available radar absorbing materials.