Several characteristics of dual offset shaped reflector (DOSR) antennas are examined. Despite the potentially superior performance of DOSR over conventional Cassegrain/Gregorian offset designs and over shaped circular symmetric designs, these characteristics can make the DOSR designs less desirable. In particular, the simultaneous multiple-beam capability of DOSR is found to be inferior to conic (paraboloid-ellipse/hyperboloid) reflectors. This difficulty can possibly be overcome to some degree by the use of overlapping feed arrays. The higher manufacturing cost of a DOSR can be somewhat ameliorated by the use of adjustable panels on a large offset paraboloid if the paraboloid and a shaped reflector are very little different in shape. The adjustable panels may be used for correction of gravity and wind distortions as well as for shaping. It is pointed out that new exact synthesis methods for DOSR permit the design of very low cross-polarization aperture distributions such as are obtainable with Mizugutch designs for conic systems.
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