Multiprobe Planar Near-field Range Antenna Measurement System with Improved Performance

This article presents a novel multiprobe planar near-field range (PNFR) measurement system. The said system simplifies the overall mechanical design, making it simpler than the existing scanning probe PNFR measurements, and also significantly reduces testing time. A dielectric-based probe is introduced to reduce the antenna size, thereby improving resolution. The probe under consideration is an antipodal Vivaldi antenna offering broadband support and ensuring wideband characteristics of aerials. Numerical results for representative X-band antenna models, presented in the Matlab environment, demonstrate robust performance of the developed measurement system.