A Wideband Microwave Holography Methodology for Reflector Surface Measurement of Large Radio Telescopes

Abstract Most reflector surface holographic measurements of a large radio telescope utilize a geostationary satellite as the signal source. The shortcoming is that those measurements could only be done at a limited elevation angle due to the satellite’s relatively stationary state. This paper proposed a new wideband microwave holographic measurement method based on radio sources to achieve full-elevation-angle measurement with small size reference antenna. In theoretical derivation, the time delay and phase change due to path length and device difference between the antenna under test and reference antenna are compensated first. Then the correct method of wideband holography effect, which is because of antenna pattern differing under different wavelengths when receiving a wideband signal, is presented. To verify the proposed methodology, a wideband microwave holographic measurement system is established, the data processing procedure is illustrated, and the reflector surface measurement experiments on a 40 m radio telescope at different elevation angles are conducted. The result shows that the primary reflector surface root-mean-square at around elevation angles of 28°, 44°, 49°, and 75° are respectively 0.213 mm, 0.170 mm, 0.188 mm, and 0.199 mm. It is basically consistent with the real data, indicating that the proposed wideband microwave holography methodology is feasible.