8.2 – 110 GHz, Prime Focus Antennas

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Why Choose Mi-Wave for Prime Focus Antennas

Mi-Wave’s 202 Series aluminum and 203 Series fiberglass prime focus antennas provide flexible material options to match specific application environments and installation requirements.

• 202 Series (Aluminum):
  Preferred for controlled environments where mechanical rigidity, low weight, and excellent electrical performance are critical.

• 203 Series (Fiberglass):
  Designed for outdoor and harsh environments where durability, corrosion resistance, and long-term environmental stability are required.

Both series are engineered with the same focus on electromagnetic performance, mechanical precision, and repeatability, ensuring reliable results regardless of material selection.

What Prime Focus Antennas Do

Prime focus antennas are high-gain directional reflector antennas that concentrate RF energy by reflecting signals from a parabolic dish toward a feed located at the geometric prime focus of the reflector. This antenna architecture produces a narrow beamwidth, high directivity, and symmetrical radiation pattern, making prime focus antennas ideal for long-range RF transmission and reception.

In RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave systems, prime focus antennas are used to maximize aperture efficiency and improve overall link performance. By focusing electromagnetic energy into a tightly controlled main lobe while minimizing spillover and pattern distortion, these antennas deliver improved gain, pointing accuracy, and repeatability. These characteristics are critical in precision communication systems, radar platforms, telemetry links, and RF test environments.

Frequency Coverage and Waveguide Interfaces

Mi-Wave prime focus antennas support operation across a broad range of RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave frequencies, typically from 8.2 GHz to 110 GHz, with extended capability depending on reflector diameter, surface accuracy, and feed configuration.

These antennas are compatible with standard rectangular waveguide (WR) interfaces, enabling seamless integration into high-frequency RF systems. Supported waveguide sizes and bands include:

• WR-90 | 8.2–12.4 GHz | X-Band

• WR-62 | 12.4–18.0 GHz | Ku-Band

• WR-42 | 18.0–26.5 GHz | K-Band

• WR-28 | 26.5–40.0 GHz | Ka-Band

• WR-22 | 33.0–50.0 GHz | Q-Band

• WR-15 | 50.0–75.0 GHz | V-Band

• WR-10 | 75.0–110.0 GHz | W-Band

This wide compatibility allows prime focus antennas to integrate easily into high-frequency RF chains, including transmitters, receivers, frequency converters, amplifiers, and test instrumentation.

Why Prime Focus Matters

Because the feed is positioned precisely at the prime focus of the parabolic reflector, this antenna design delivers several key performance advantages:

• High gain and narrow beamwidth for long-distance and point-to-point links

• Symmetrical radiation patterns for predictable and repeatable system behavior

• Stable polarization characteristics across the operating frequency band

• Consistent electrical performance across multiple frequencies and WR waveguide sizes

These advantages make prime focus antennas a reliable and widely used solution for radar and telemetry systems, point-to-point communication links, antenna characterization, and RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave test and measurement environments.