A Short-Terminated Non-Resonant Slotted Dielectric-Filled Waveguide Array

Abstract

The paper discusses the design details of a practical antenna problem under stringent mechanical restrictions and adverse environments for an airborne system where the solution has been found in a linear non-resonant array of resonant shunt slots on a dielectric-loaded rectangular waveguide. The antenna deviates from a normally-used non-resonant array in its excitation and terminations where both ends are shorted and excitation achieved through an ingenuous coaxial-waveguide adaptor to achieve a tunability to 1.08 SWR at a spot frequency in a given band of frequencies. The non-resonant array has been designed, under the short termination, taking into account the internal interaction between individual slot radiators at the principle wave through the individual wave amplitude matrices for the equivalent network representing the complete array. The antenna has been found to possess an excellent repeatability, repeatability and flight worthiness.