Reflector Antennas (Dishes) for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

Parabolic reflectors (dishes) are the most general purpose, flexible antennas used in radio astronomy, typically able with multiple feeds to cover two orders of magnitude in frequency. The SKA requirements will push the limits of dish design for decimetre wavelengths beyond that of any existing dishes. The SKAs sensitivity as well as its wide-field imaging requirements push performance limits, while the need to produce and deploy thousands of dishes in an array spanning continental baselines push cost and fabrication limits. This paper will discuss SKA requirements and a combination of techniques being brought to bear on this design problem.