METHOD OF MEASURING SPATIAL DIRECTIONAL PATTERNS OF AIRCRAFT ANTENNAS IN FLIGHT CONDITIONS Russian patent published in 2019 - IPC G01R29/10 

FIELD: measurement technology.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to methods of measuring characteristics of radiation (reception) of antennas, including measurement of spatial directional pattern (DP) of low-directional antennae of aircraft in real flight conditions, and can be used in flight and certification tests of radioelectronic equipment and aircraft systems for various purposes. In implementing the disclosed method of measuring the DP antennas in aircraft flight conditions, a prediction estimate is made of the relative change in the signal level between the SMP antenna and the analyzed aircraft antenna on the calibration section of the straight-line horizontal flight, comprising the turn area; determining aircraft range and altitude values, at which the signal level between the SMP antenna and the analyzed aircraft antenna changes monotonically and exceeds the sensitivity of the measuring channels of the SMP by at least 20 dB; performing straight-line horizontal flight by measuring the radio signal level at the outputs of the measuring antennas of the orthogonal polarizations of the SMP, depending on the distance between the SMP and the aircraft; as per the measured dependence of the radio signal level on range on the straight-line trajectory, coordinates of the CCT around which aircraft flights are made in circular trajectories are selected. After performing flights along the specified trajectories and documenting the measurement results on-board the aircraft and on the SMP, performing their combined processing with formation of combined data on the UTC time of the GPS/GLONAS receivers of the aircraft and SMP measurement systems and bringing the measurement results to the standard range conditions and the azimuth angle in the coordinate system of the analyzed antenna (associated aircraft coordinate system), results of estimating spatial DP and levels of suppression of orthogonal components of the field of the tested aircraft antenna in tabular and graphic forms are documented in polar (rectangular) coordinates for the entire range of angular positions of the tested aircraft antenna relative to the SMP.

EFFECT: high adequacy of measurement results and reduced errors in estimating the DP antennas of aircraft radio engineering systems during various stages of flight (certification) tests.

1 cl, 5 dwg