Page 211 - MY STORY

Instead of buying an expensive precision RADAR power

supply, we used an existing precision network analyzer
from our materials measurement lab, coupled to
commercially available transmission horns (think of

microphones). The last big elephant was a large RF
reflector dish. This parabolic dish had to be as large as
possible to collimate the RF energy coming from the

transmission horns and reflect this energy in a uniform
column to illuminate the target suspendered in the middle
of the room. The dish also served to accept the reflected

energy from the target and send it back to the horn, when
in “receiving” mode. We had the Research Lab scientists

design the dish, then purchased the raw glass fabric and
epoxy to make the dish and our model shop folk did the
building. The parabolic accuracy of the dish surface was
paramount, and this was accomplished using a precision

template to shape the epoxy parabolic surface.

One of the final bridges to cross was finding a highly
conductive material to coat the reflector surface. The
glass fabric/epoxy surface was dimensionally perfect, but

we needed to coat the surface with a high electrical
conductive material so the reflector would reflect RF
energy, not let RF energy go through it.