GB1271346A - Flush mounted steerable array antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

1,271,346. Aerials. HAZELTINE CORP. 19 Aug., 1970 [26 Aug., 1969], No. 40004/70. Heading H4A. An aerial array which is suitable for use in aircraft is rotatable about its broadside axis whilst remaining substantially flush with adjacent surfaces, and it emits a linearly or circularly polarized beam which may be directed in space by combining electronic deflection in planes containing said axis with physical rotation about said axis. As described, a planar array consists of 32 rectangular 2 : 1 aspect ratio wave-guide apertures 10 which support the TE 10 mode, and which are stacked in 8 columns and 4 rows, the longer sides of the waveguides being in the direction of the columns. A dielectric sheet 13, on which is a plurality of thin conductive strips 14, is positioned over the array, and acts as a matching and a protective means. The array is arranged on a mount 15, which contains signal processing circuitry, and which is rotatable by a motor 18. A rotary joint 17 provides connection means between external equipment and the circuitry in the mount. A transmitter 19 supplies power through the rotary joint 17 to a column power divider which provides eight equal or otherwise proportioned outputs on leads 21-28. Said leads are connected through respective phase shifters 31-38 to respective power dividers 39-46, each of which provides four equal or otherwise proportioned outputs to the radiating elements, in the different rows, which constitute a column. The phase shifters 31-38 are of the ferrite type, and are fed with control currents from a computer 30 so that there are phase differences between columns corresponding to a desired beam deflection, which in this embodiment is in the plane of the electric field vector. Control signals for the computer 30 are coupled through the rotary joint 17 from a steering command generator 29, which also controls the motor 18 according to the amount of rotation of the array which is desired. In another embodiment (Fig. 1, not shown) more than 32 radiating apertures are provided, which are arranged in rows and columns whose lengths are so proportioned that the array outline approximates to a circle. An array may also be constituted by slots of holes in a conductive ground plane.