| 摘要 |
A portable, lightweight, folding parabolic reflector antenna for reception of microwave signals includes an axial wave guide tube which constitutes the main structural supporting member of the antenna, a ten to fifteen foot diameter dish mounted to the wave guide and a sub-reflector supported at the forward end of the wave guide. A low noise amplifier may be mounted to the rear end of the wave guide for amplification of the received signals. The folding dish includes a pre-formed dished reflector of pliable material supported by a radial framework of normally straight resiliently flexible spokes of tapering cross section. The spokes are pivotable by a lever system between a folded axial position and a deployed radial position. The normally straight spokes are stressed upon deployment by a perimeter cable to a curvature of the pliable dish such that the spokes and the dish are curved independently of one another and operate to correct deviations in the desired curvature of each other to thereby obtain a precisely repeatable dish curvature through many folding-unfolding cycles. A method of assembly of the folding reflector is disclosed as well as alternate embodiments of lightweight curved reflectors.
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