A laser-based, near-field, probe position measurement system

It is pointed out that lower sidelobe phased array antennas are being developed which require vastly improved accuracies. In order to satisfy such requirements, it will be necessary to use new approaches for conducting measurements with a greatly improved accuracy. The present investigation is concerned with a measurement system which has been developed to conduct such measurements. The considered system, the ANFAST II, represents an improvement of the AEGIS Near-Field Antenna System Test (ANFAST I). In ANFAST II, all calibration devices have an interface with the system computer for high accuracy calibration operations. A laser calibration scheme is discussed. Attention is given to a linear calibration subsystem, angular calibration, and a straightness subsystem.