A waveguide fed composite horn antenna

The design, development, and testing of a dual-polarized waveguide-fed horn antenna is highlighted. The antenna is to be used for the wind scatterometer radar, NSCAT, to be placed upon the NROSS satellite. The dual polarized NSCAT antenna consists of a pair of slotted waveguides fed through horns. The edge-wall 202-element slot array excites an H-plane flared horn; the broad-wall 202-element slot array excites a corrugated E-plane flared horn. The antennas are designed to have nearly identical far-field patterns. It is noted that careful attention to all construction tolerances was extremely important for maintaining proper beam pointing and scale lobe levels. This was particularly true for the edge-wall slot design.<>