Design of a Wideband ‘Rocket’ Synthetic Array Feed

A more accurate name “Synthetic Array Feed (SAF)” is proposed for phased array feed (PAF) by reviewing its basic concept and operating principle. A new SAF design is presented for radio astronomy applications. The array is composed of ‘Rocket” elements fed by coaxial probes. An infinite array and a 5×4 finite array model are established in CST software to simulate its transmission and radiation characteristics., respectively. The results show that the bandwidth can reach 3:1., and the active voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) is less than 1.25. The aperture efficiency of the QiTai radio Telescope (QTT) with this SAF is higher than 60% in the whole frequency band.