148 IEEE TRANSACTIONS OK ANTEXNAS AhTD PROPAGATION March

ReflectorSurface Deviations in Large ParabolicAntennas*

L. J. XiVDERSONt AXD L.

Summary-One of the important factors affecting the efficiency

of parabolic reflector antennas isthe degree to which the surfaceof
the reflector deviates from the true parabolic shape. For a given re-
flector surface it is also important to locate the focal point of the
best-fit paraboloid relativeto the existing feed support structure.
A simple method is presented for making these measurements,
and results are given for a particular 60-ft diameter reflector. Static
measurements were made with the antenna axis pointed vertically
upwards, and changes were also measuredas a function of elevation
angle and wind.
When the surface errors have a Gaussian distribution relative to
the focal point, simple theory indicatesthat thereceived power rela-
tive to that froma perfect re5ecting surface is P / P o = exp - ( ~ T U / X ) ~
where u is the standard deviation of the surface errors and X is the
operating wavelength.

I. INTRODUCTION

L ARGE
PA4RABOLIC-REFLECTOR antennas
are beingusedinrapidlyincreasingnumbers,
particularly at microwave frequencies.
advent of communications via earth satellites, as well
The

as to deep space vehicles, requires the use of steerable

pencil-beam antennas at these frequencies. Radio Fig. 1-40-ft precision parabolic antenna.
astronomy applications alsouse large-aperture antennas
for receiving faint signals from naturally existing, extra-
terrestrialsources.Missile-trackingradarsandtropo- themethoddescribed is designed forpractical use
spheric-scattercommunicationssystemscontinue t o ratherthanas a sophisticatedtreatment of antenna
provide a steady demand for such antennas. theory.
One of the problems of interest t o users of large
parabolic-reflector antennas is t h a t of measuring the 11. MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE
surface deviations of the reflector and the way in which Fig. 2 illustrates the measurements to be taken. A t
these vary with antenna orientation, temperature, and point 0, near the design focal point, one end of a steel
windloading. A relatedproblemis that of precisely tape is attached by meansof a swivel fitting t h a t allows
locating the focal point of the paraboloid that best fits stretching the tape to any point on the dish surface.
the actual surface. Finally, there is also the problem of The end of another steel tape is similarly attached at
estimatingthedegradationinantennaperformance point V , the vertex of the parabolic surface. Measure-
resultingfromthesurfacedeviations of a particular ments are madeof the distanced + A from point0 to the
reflector. This would be useful, forexample, in determin- reflector surfaceat a pair of diametricallyopposed
ing how high a frequency one can use before degrada- points, P and P', having the same vertex distance r.
tionbecomesserious,orwhether i t isworthwhile t o Similar sets of measurements are made to a series of
consider improving the surface accuracy. points located at the intersections of numerous radial
At the Radio Physics Laboratory of Cornel1 Aero- linesfrom thevertexwithseveralconcentricrings,
nautical Laboratory we have a 60-ft diameter parabolic covering the entire reflector surface from the rim to the
antenna (Fig. l ) , which is part of a 50-Mw, S-band, es- center.
perimental radar.l In an attempt tofind answers to the
questions posed above, techniques of measurement and 11I. AKALPSIS OF 3'1EASUREMENTS
analysis have been developed which are readily appli-
cable t o all large reflector antennas.I t will be seen that
A . Location of the A x i s of Symmetry
The measured distances to each of a pair of diametri-
* Received, July 16, 1962; revised manuscript received, October cally opposed points will differ by an amount 2 8 . Thus
26, 1962. each such pair of points indicates a horizontal displace-
t Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory Inc., Buffalo, N. Y . ment E of point 0 from the axis of symmetry. If A is
This program is sponsored by ARPA under AOhlC Contract No.
DA-30-069-ORD-2554, ARPA Order No. 53-62. smallcompared t o d , thehorizontaldisplacementis
1963 Anderson. and Groth: Surface Deciations in Parabolic A.infennas 149

dftl
0 31.3 ( R I M )
X 25.7
A 20.4
3 15.2
i

Fig. 2-Geometry of surface deviation measurements.

given by
A
E = - -
sin a

where a is angle V O P = 1IOP. For a given ring of points

(constant I ) , a is determined by

Fig. 3-Polar plot of horizontal displacement vs

wheref is the focal length of the design paraboloid.
The value of E computed in this way is actually the
component in the plane defined by the pointsP , P and
0. To determine the direction from point 0 to the axis
of symmetry, one must plot E for each pair of diamet-
rically opposed points vs the azimuth of the measure-
ment plane relative to an arbitraryreference plane. The
results of such a plot for the C 4 L antenna are shown in
Fig. 3 . If the reflector surface were a true paraboloid,
allpoints would lie on a circlepassing throughthe
origin. The diameter of the circle would correspond t o
the distanceeo from point0 to theaxis of the paraboloid,
and the centerof the circle would be a t point (c0/2, @o),
where @o is the direction, relative to the reference plane,
from point 0 to theaxis.
Since the surface is not a true paraboloid, the plotted
pointsscatteraboutabest-fit circle. In order to de-
termine eo and & for the actual surface, one draws a pointas showninFig.
circle (Fig. 3 ) whichpasses throughthe origin and
fits the plotted points aswell as possible. The diameter
of this circle eo and the azimuth4oof its center now de-
fines thevectordistance of the axis of the best-fit
paraboloid from the measuring point 0. The radial dis-
tance from the origin to t h e circle a t t h e a z i m u t h of a
given pair of measured points corresponds to the com-
ponent E which appliestothatpair of points.This
value is now converted to its corresponding A value by
means of (1) and (2). If this A is subtracted from the
measured d + A (Fig. 2) andaddedtothemeasured
d - A for each pair of points, the corrected ds will be
those which would have been measured if point 0 had
been located on the axis of the best-fit paraboloid.
+
azimuth of measuring plane.
B . Focal Length of Best-Fit Paraboloid
The next step in the analysisis determining the vertical
displacement y of point 0 from the focal point of the
best-fit paraboloid. T h e first approximation is made by
assuming that the designfocal lengthiscorrect. The
measured distance from point 0 to the vertex is com-
pared to the design of focal length. Thedifference is the
correction 71,which is used tocomputethevertical
displacement correction Adl, to be applied to the meas-
ured ds.
If themeasuringpoint 0 is displacedvertically a
distance 71, which is small compared t o d , all the meas-
ured ds are changed by an amount,
Ad1 = y1 COS Q, (3)
where cos a is given by (2). If point 0 is above the focal
2, the 4dlS must, of course,
be subtracted from the measuredds. T h e Adl correction
will be the same for all measurements in a given ring
since LY is constant for t h a t ring.
Having now corrected the measured ds forahori-
zontal displacement 0 and a tentative vertical displace-
ment yl, of the reference point 0, we next determine
the distance do, from point X , the nominal focal point,
to the surface of the design paraboloid in the various
rings corresponding to the measured values of Y . This
distance is given by
do = - f + 44fZ + T (4)
where f is the design focal length.
150 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTEAWAS AND PROPAGATION March

RADIAL DISTANCE FROM VERTEX

dft)

Fig. 4-Surface deviation of CAL 60-ft dish relative to focal point of design paraboloid.

Subtracting the corrected ds in a given ring from do about half of themaximumvalue.Therefore,the

for that ring gives the residualdeviations Ad in the weighting factors of the various concentriczones of the
actual dish surface relative to the assumed focal point surface need to be considered in determining the best-fit
X. T o determine how closely the design focal length values of x and 4f. I n Fig. 4, two best-fit choices are
applies to the actual surface, one must next plot the made.The solid curve (Af =0, x=0.20 in.) wasse-
residual deviations vs Y , as shown in Fig. 4.The average lected by weighting the zones according to the area x
deviation for each ring is computed and plotted as aillumination-density method
described
above. The
solid circle in this figure. If the focal length of the best-second choice was made by considering all areas to be
fit paraboloidwereequaltothe design focal length, equally important (uniform illumination). In this case,
the average deviations would be zero for allrings. If the best-fitchoice mas also Af = O (the design focal
the design focal length is too long by an amountAf, but length of 25.0 ft wasstillcorrect), butthe best-fit
the best-fitparaboloidstillpassesthrough the actual paraboloidwasdisplaced b inchabovethevertex
vertex, the deviations would follow a curve similar t o point (x=0.12 in.).
t o dashed curve shown in Fig. 4 for Af = - 1 in. The Once the valuesof x and 4f have been determined, the
expression for this curve is best-fit focal point is readily specified as being on the
best-fit axis located in Section 111, A, a n d a t a distance
ZAf(1 - C O S a) f +Af +x above the actual vertex. The value of 4f is
Ad =
3+ cos Q positive if the best-fit focal length is greater than the
design value, and x is positive if the best-fit vertex is
If, on the other hand, the focal length remains equal to closer to the focal point than is the actual vertex.
the assumed value, but the entire surface is displaced
along its axis by a given amount x, the deviations A d C. RMS Surface Deviations
relative to the focal point are independent of r (and a)
After choosing a best-fit curve as indicated above, the
and are equal tox, as shown by the solid lines in Fig. 4.
deviations of eachmeasuredpointareredetermined
For a given pattern of ad (averaged for a given ring)
with respect to the best-fit paraboloid. The deviations
vs I , the problem is to find the combination of x and Af
are readily obtained by measuring the ordinate of each
which best fits the measuredvalues. To do this, one
point plotted on Fig. 4 relative to the best-fit curve. If
must consider the illumination pattern of the feed. I n
the unweighted rms deviation is desired, one then uses
mostparabolic-reflector antennas, the illumination of
the usual expression,
the reflector is tapered so that the power density a t t h e
edge is on the order of 10 d b lower than that at the Ad,,, = [( Adi2)/n]12, (6)
center. This taper is offset, however, by the increased
area at the edge relative to the center. In a typical case, where the Adis are the deviations of individual points
the intercepted power reaches a maximum in the zone from the unweighted best-fit curve, and n is the total
about halfway from the center to the edge of the reflec- number of measured points.
tor, falls to zero at the center, and near the edge, to If i t is desired t o weight the deviations according t o
 1963 Anderson and tiroth:Ueezatmns
Surface zn Yarabollc dnte-nnas 10 1

theillumination,onefirstdetermines a normalized into equal elementary areas, da, the fraction d a / a , in

weighting factor for each ring in which measurements which the phase deviation is between 6 and 6+d6 for
were made. This factor for a given ring is normally distributed deviations is
da
- = exp
a
[ 1 6
-2(-)2]:,

where Ii is the power density with which the feed il- where c is the standard deviation of the Gaussian dis-
luminates the disha t angle a relative to the axialpower tribution. Substitution of (12) into (11) gives
density, and y i is equal to
yi = d sin a.
Using this factor, the weighted rms deviation is now
(8)
E
Eo =
- s-,
+-

= exp [ (-33
-2 r r 2

where the Adi's are the deviations with respect to the

best-fit (weighted) paraboloid in a given ring. Fi is the or
weighting factor for that ring, and n i is the number of P
points measured in the ring. - _ - exp - ( 2 m ~ / X ) ~ ,
Po
In the previousdiscussion, Ad wasdefined asthe
deviation of a point on the actual dish surface relative where P is the power delivered by the actual antenna,
tothe focal point of a truly parabolicsurface. T h e and Po is the power which would be delivered by the
quantitywith which we aremore specificallycon- sameantenna,withatrulyparabolic reflector. Ex-
cerned is thephase-path differenceresultingfrom a pressing (14)g d e c i b e l form gives,
given Ad or a given Adrms.If we denote this quantity as
gain degradation (db) = 15l(~/X)~. (13
6, then,
6 = Ad(1 + cos a ) . (10) If the deviations in phase path, as described in Sec-
tion 111, C,havebeendeterminedfromthebest-fit
T o determinethe effects of surfacedeviationsthen, paraboloid, their mean value is zero. In this case, the
oneshouldconvertthe Ad's into 6's and use these value of ,,6, is equivalent to u and may be used in (15)
lattervalues in equations(6)or(9),therebyob- to compute the degradation in antenna gain caused by
taining ,,6, instead of Ad,,,. Since all Ad's in a given randomly distributed deviationsin the reflector surface.
ring are associatedwitha constant cy, the conversion
can be made on the sums of (Ad)?for each ring, instead V. DEFORMATION
OF REFLECTOR SURFACE
of on the individual Ad's.
In addition to the measuring of surface deviations a t
IV. GAINDEGRADATION a number of points with the antenna looking vertically,
i t is of interest to determine the extent to which the
The degradationin the plane-wave gain of a parabolic reflector surface deforms at other elevation angles. I t
reflector antenna due to surface deviations is afunc- mould also be useful to measure the deformation caused
tion of the distribution of the deviations over the re- by winds and temperature changes.
flector aperture, as well as of the illumination pattern For these purposes, one is concerned principally with
of the feed. This is particularly true in the case of a changesin the reflector surfacerelativetothe focal
systematic distortion of the surface, where the best-fit point.Thetechnique used on ourantenna was to
parabolicparameterschangewithorientation of the stretch piano wires (0.012-in. diameter) from the focal
axial plane. point to four points spaced 90" apart on the reflector
If suchdistortion is negligible, andthedeviations rim, and a fifth wire from the focal point to the vertex.
approximate a Gaussian distribution over the reflector With the antenna pointed at the horizon, two of the
surface, one can estimate gain degradation effects in a points were located at the top and bottom of the dish
rather simpleway.Consider anelementaryarea da and the other two were midway between. The arrange-
having a phase-path deviation 6 relative to the best-fit ment for attachingthe wires tothe dishsurfaceis
paraboloid. Reflection of an incoming plane wave from shown in Fig. 5 . The piano wire is threaded through a
this
area will contribute
a normalized elementary small hole in the clamping bar and attached to the end
signal vector at thefocal point equal to of the spring, which is stretched to give about 10 lbs
Eo 2 ~ da
6 tension to the wire. The plunger of the linear-motion
dE =-COS- - )
potentiometer is then set at about the midpoint of its
2 X u
1.5-in. displacement range and clamped to the wire by
where E o is the illuminating field strength and a is the a set screw in the clamping bar.K'ith this arrangement,
total area. Considering the entire surface to be divided any change in the distance between the focal point and
152 IEEE TR.ANSACTIONS ON ANTEArnTASA:VD- PR.OPAGATION March

distance to the side points includes only the firsteffect.

I t isthereforepossible toseparatethetwo displace-
ments.Weconclude t h a t a t 45" elevationanglethe
change in the reflector shape is negligible, while a t 0"
elevation angle the rim-to-focal point distance shortens
by about 0.0s in. corresponding to a decrease in focal
length of 0.25 in. The amountof feed sag a t 45" amounts
to 0.16 in., which raises the boresight by 2 minutes of
arc at this elevation. At 0" elevation the boresightis
raised by 4 minutes of arc.
I n winds of 30 t o 40 mph, with the antenna facing
the wind and at 0" elevation angle, the distortion is not
significantlydifferentfrom the low wind resultsin-
dicated above. However, when the antenna is oriented
Fig. j--,lrrangernent for attaching piano n-ire to reflector surface. inaposition normaltothewind,theupwindsideis
deflected toward the focal point about 0.1s in, and the
the reflectorsurfacecauses an equal displacement of downwind side is similarly deflected about 0.10 in. 4 s
the
linear-potentiometer plunger,
which,in
turn, one would expect, the top and bottom distances under
changes the potentiometer resistance. Each potentiome- thesecircumstancesarelengthened,butbysmaller
ter was measured with a Wheatstone Bridge. I n order amounts, being 0.03 and 0.10 in., respectively.
that the measurements might be taken with the dish I t can be seen that most of the reflector distortions
tipped a ta n y angle, thepotentiometers werecon- which we havemeasuredarerelativelyminor at 'S
nected,bymeans of 50-foot lengths of 2-conductor band. However, our antenna is considerably more rigid
cable, to the bridge which was located on top of the than that of many large antennas, as is shown in Fig. 1.
antenna pedestal. The repeatability of the readings in- One might therefore expect that the distortions in other
dicated that measureddisplacements weresignificant reflectors could
be
sufficient to
causeappreciable
to kO.01 in. changes in antenna performance as a function of eleva-
Inour reflector,measurementsindicatethattwo tion angle and wind Ioading.
effects occur. First, the reflector becomes slightly more
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
concave a t low elevationanglesthan when i t looks
vertically. Secondly, the feed support structure sags as The authors wish t o acknowledge the efforts of A.
elevation angle is decreased. T h e measured change in Wright, Jr., in providing the design and fabrication of
rim-to-feed-pointdistance for thetopandbottom the mechanical equipment used, as well as his assistance
points of the reflector includes both effects, while the in making the measurements described.