Modelling high gain reflectors mounted on structures

Many papers have been published on the computation of the final radiation pattern of a low gain antenna when sited on or near a structure. For high-frequency problems, where the dimensions of the structure is many wavelengths, ray tracing and diffraction techniques can be used. In the high-frequency case, it is sufficient to model a low gain antenna as though it radiated from its phase centre. Modelling a reflector is a more complex problem than modelling an array because the radiation pattern from a reflector is the sum of radiation from the aperture, diffracted radiation from the edges of the reflectors, spillover of feed radiation past the reflector and radiation from struts plus other small contributions from interacting parts of the reflector. The objective is to provide a method of modelling the radiation from a reflector antenna in the presence of other conducting structures which is accurate and suitable for use with a diffraction program.