Wideband polarimetric RCS-antenna measurement

A new method is presented which allows the determination of antenna radiation, scattering and feedline characteristics by radar cross-section (RCS) measurements. A special antenna network description including polarization information, and multiport feeding offers new insight in antenna behavior. The procedure omits the utilization of a standard gain antenna for absolute gain determination and no RF-feedline is necessary to the antenna under test. Theory as well as measurements on a wideband dual-polarized horn antenna are presented which demonstrate the efficiency and uniqueness of this technique