GB3CMS, our microwave beacon, uses a brass 10GHz waveguide double-sided WG16 slotted array for its antenna. Designed and built some years ago, the slots act as a phased array. They radiate the energy in a largely horizontal direction whilst the side-wings convert its azimuth coverage to a more omnidirectional characteristic.

Early installations had problems weatherproofing the open slots. Past attempts had tried kapton or thick polythene close to the slots, which either suffered from sunlight & weather, or mismatched it too severely. The current deign is a far more robust one with a custom machined bracket that clamps a dielectric tube and cap to a scaffold pole that also holds the masthead unit.

Brass WG16 waveguide antenna with groundplane wings

Radome and clamp bracket