Aperture feed for a spherical reflector

The problem of designing a feed system for illuminating a spherical reflector is examined. A method is proposed for specifying the required field distribution over the aperture of the feed system, and the primary illumination and gain resulting from this distribution are derived. The results indicate that a significantly smaller feed aperture can be employed than would be indicated by conventional ray tracing methods. Specific numerical results are obtained by taking the Arecibo antenna as an example, for which a calculated aperture efficiency of 67.5 percent is possible with approximately a 38-foot-diameter aperture feed.