Parabolic Antenna

By: Group Eych

Parabolic antenna
German

physicist Heinrich Hertz

during his discovery of radio
waves in 1887
is often referred to as a dish
antenna
an antenna that uses a parabolic
reflector
most common form is shaped like
a dish

Characteristics
have

some of the highest gains

high directivity (30-40 dB) and
low cross polarization
can produce the narrowest
beamwidths, of any antenna type
used in the high frequency part
of the radio spectrum, at UHF and
microwave (SHF) frequencies,

Parts of the parabolic

antenna

parabolic reflector which collects and concentrates

an incoming parallel beam of radio waves and
focuses them on to the actual antenna placed at
its focal point or focus.
feed horn (or feedhorn) is a small horn antenna used
to convey radio waves between the transmitter
and/or receiver and the parabolic reflector.

Function of a parabolic
antenna

Aperture ratio = FV/line L

Applications
High

gain for point to point

communication
In applications such as microwave relay
links that carry telephone and television
signals
Wireless WAN/LAN links for data
communications satellite and spacecraft
Radio telescopes
Radar antennas
Satellite television dish antennas

Types/Models of Parabolic
Antennas
Parabolic antennas are distinguished by their shapes.

Paraboloidal

or dish
Shrouded dish
Cylindrical

1.Paraboloidal or dish
The reflector is shaped like a
paraboloid. This is the most
common type.
It radiates a narrow
pencil-shaped beam along the axis
of the dish.

2.Shrouded
dish

- cylindrical metal shield is attached to

the rim of the dish.
- the shroud shields the antenna from
radiation from angles outside the main
Shrouded microwave relay
beam axis, reducing theside lobes.
dishes on a communications
- used to prevent interference in
tower in Australia.
terrestrial microwave links, where
several antennas using the same
frequency are located close together.
- the shroud is coated inside with
microwave absorbent material.
- shrouds can reduce back lobe
radiation by 10 dB.

Cylindrical
- reflector is curved in only one direction
and flat in the other.
- radio waves come to a focus not at a point
but along a line.
- the feed is sometimes adipole antenna located
along the focal line
- radiate a fan-shaped beam, narrow in the
curved dimension, and wide in the uncurved
dimension. the curved ends of the reflector are
sometimes capped by flat plates, to prevent
radiation out the ends.
- is called apillboxantenna.

Shaped-beam antennas
Modern

reflector antennas can be

designed to produce a beam or
beams of a particular shape,
rather than just the narrow
"pencil" or "fan" beams of the
simple dish and cylindrical
antennas.Two techniques are
used, often in combination, to
control the shape of the beam:
- Shaped reflectors

Shaped reflectors
- The parabolic reflector can be given a
noncircular
shape, and/or different curvatures in the
horizontal and
vertical directions, to alter the shape of the beam.
- This is often used in radar antennas.
the wider the antenna is in a given transverse
direction, the narrower the radiation pattern will
be in that direction

Array of feeds
In

order to produce an arbitrary shaped

beam, instead of one feed horn, an array
of feed horns clustered around the focal
point can be used.
Array-fed antennas are often used on
communication satellites,
particularlydirect broadcast antennas, to
create a downlink radiation pattern to
cover a particular continent or coverage
area. They are often used with secondary
reflector antennas such as the Cassegrain.

Based on type of feed:

Parabolic antennas are also classified by
the type of feed, that is, how the radio
waves are supplied to the antenna.
1. Axial or front feed
2. Offset or off-axis feed

Axial or front feed

This is the most common type of feed, with the

feed antenna located in front of the dish at the
focus, on the beam axis.

Offset or off-axis feed

The

reflector is an asymmetrical segment

of a paraboloid, so the focus, and the feed
antenna, are located to one side of the
dish.
It is widely used in home satellite
television dishes.

Geometry of a Parabolic Antenna

X^2 = 4F(z-F), |x| D/2

Where: F = focal length

D = the diameter