Content area
Full Text
Transmissivity tests are essential to ensure that repairs to a radome are performed effectively.
In the aviation industry, the nose cone of an aircraft often functions as a radome (radar dome) which protects the antenna of the aircraft's weather radar system. An important trait of the radome is that it is transparent to the frequency at which the weather radar operates. Transmissivity is a measure of how well the radome transmits electromagnetic energy.
The purpose behind testing radomes
After repairs are made to a radome, it is essential to test that it is properly transparent for the weather antenna. This must be done with antennas simulating realworld signal conditions because a physically-repaired radome may look entirely whole, but still have water trapped inside. To ensure that a radome is repaired properly, a transmissivity test must be conducted.
Test system setup
To perform a transmissivity test, a two-axis gimbal was constructed, large enough to support an aircraft radome. The test system has three degrees of...