What are the limitations of the MARS post processor?
The MARS post processor works in conjunction with a small modification to the spherical measurement procedure. For the case of conventional spherical near-field measurements the AUT is typically installed within the range so that the majority of the current sources (i.e. the antenna) are located as close to the origin of the range axis as possible. This is done to minimize the radius of the minimum sphere which reduces the amount of data that has to be collected, and insures that the AUT is displaced as little as possible during the acquisition which tends to minimize the effects of range multipath. The MARS measurement process necessitates the displacement of the AUT from the center of rotation. This is usually accomplished by displacing the AUT in a single axis, e.g. the z-axis by a number of wavelengths (e.g. 20″ – 25″ @ 2.5 – 3.0 GHz). Also, the best results are achieved when the sampling increment is halved which for a fast system, roughly equates to a doubling of the acquisition
