Dielectric Lenses - what is the main drawback?

[samchieh]

Dielectric Lenses

Hello everyone,

My question is, what is the main drawback from using a dielectric lens for antenna applications?

Is it

a). Dielectric Loss
b). Impedance Match
c). Transmission efficiency

What is the main problem associated with dielectric lenses? Or is there none?

Thanks in Advance!

Sam

 

[flatulent]

Re: Dielectric Lenses

Expensive materials. It is much cheaper to use a parabolic reflector or horn.

It is quite popular now days to use a phased array of patches, each with its own power amplifier. This is highly reliable. A few amps burning up do not much affect the performance.

I have seen a few cases of a dielectric lens put on the end of a horn in order to correct the radiation pattern. These were cost is no object military systems.