Low-Cost Open-Hardware System for Measurements of Antenna Far-Field Characteristics in Non-Anechoic Environments

Experimental validation belongs to the most important steps in the development of antenna structures. Measurements are normally performed in expensive, dedicated facilities such as anechoic chambers, or open-test sites. A high cost of their construction might not be justified when the main goal of antenna verification boils down to demonstration of the measurement procedure, or rough validation of the simulation models used for the development of the structure. Although solutions for far-field measurement of antennas in nonanechoic environments have been demonstrated in the literature, they utilize expensive equipment. In this work, a low-cost (around 3300 USD), system for experimental validation of antenna prototypes in non-anechoic conditions has been discussed. Its main components include the in-house developed heads and an open-hardware-based vector network analyzer. Performance of the system has been demonstrated using two antenna structures for which radiation patterns have been obtained. Comparisons against measurements performed in the anechoic chamber and using other expensive equipment have also been provided.