An inexpensive electronically steerable antenna for mobile applications in L-band

This paper presents some design results of an electronically steerable and automatically tracking antenna system suitable for future GEO satellite communications in L-band. The antenna consists of eight stacked patched mounted on a heptagonal corpus. By switching between the different antenna states hemispherical coverage can be achieved without any mechanical movement of the antenna aperture. Switching is controlled by a control and monitoring unit that uses different sensors to determine the current position and heading of the antenna. Some tests conducted in an anechoic chamber show good performance of the antenna.