Cross coupling in a five horn monopulse tracking system

A model is developed which explains the observed effects of secondary pattern crosstalk in a five horn circularly polarized monopulse tracking system. The model predicts unstable operation and loss of track for sufficiently depolarizing targets as well as polarization dependent uncertainties in the angular location of off-axis targets. The cross coupling is characterized by two complex coupling coefficients between adjacent horns in the monopulse feed system. This characterization is assumed to be valid irrespective of whether the observed secondary pattern effects are the result of mutual couplings within the feed structure itself or caused by cross-polarized backscatter from the paraboloidal reflector. A "ridge" and "nonridge" polarization terminology is adopted which is physically related to the fact that the error horns in a five horn circularly polarized system are heavily ridge loaded for one linear polarization and not the other.