A 3D-printed lens fitted to the front of our ridged horns raises gain across the band without a larger antenna. We design the lens, print it and measure the result in our own chamber.
A horn radiates a wave that spreads. The lens seated in its aperture collimates that wave into a nearly parallel beam, the way glass does with light. The antenna becomes highly directional and its gain rises, while the horn keeps its geometry, band and broadband match.
Gain is not an end in itself. It is distance you can add, a noise floor you can push down, or a bigger horn you no longer need. Three situations where the lens pays for itself, and one where it does not.
At a fixed test distance the lens adds dynamic range. At a fixed dynamic range it lets you measure from farther away. The antenna in the setup is the same either way.
At millimeter-wave frequencies every extra dB from a larger horn costs length, mass and plating precision. The lens adds the gain and leaves the horn alone.
A wide beam to illuminate a large device under test, near-field work, or a build where every gram and centimeter counts: take the base horn. Every removable-lens model has a base version without the lens.
Gain goes up, the antenna gets a little longer and heavier, and the horn itself stays as it was. Across the range the lens adds 6 to 10 dB at its peak, 10 to 40 % in length and 25 to 610 g, depending on the model.
DRH18-EC compared with DRH18-E
+10 dB
Gain at the peak, 14 GHz
+10 %
Length, 243 to 267 mm
+530 g
Mass
Unchanged
Horn geometry, band, connector
2021
Development of the lens begins
2022
First horns fitted with the lens
2024
US patent application filed, series production starts
2025
First lens antenna tested in a radome
2026
US patent granted, lens antennas in a radome on sale
The patent covers the lens as a product, and every lens antenna in the range carries it. It protects the shape of the lens, its internal structure and the material it is printed from.
US 12,665,315 B2 · Antenna Lens
Feb 2024
Application filed
Jun 2026
Patent granted
4
Inventors, all RF SPIN engineers
In-house
Designed, printed and verified
Both curves are typical data from our own chamber: the same horn design, with the lens and without it. Where the lens adds little, the chart says so.
Measured on DRH18-E / DRH18-EC
+10.2 dB
Peak gain difference, 14.3 GHz
+6.5 dB
Average, 1 – 18 GHz
47° to 11°
3 dB beamwidth, 14 GHz
In plain terms: the same antenna reaches farther. The numbers behind that sentence ship with every unit, as its own measured data.
See the Antenna PortalSingle and dual polarized ridged horns from 500 MHz to 44 GHz. On most of them the lens is removable, so one antenna gives you two beamwidths. On a few it is part of the build and stays on.
The lens comes off and the base horn works on its own.
The lens is part of the antenna and is not designed to be removed.
QRH20EC in a radome
Every antenna is measured in our own chamber and ships with a calibration certificate. With the PLUS tier you also receive the measured data of your unit, and with PLUS ACCREDITED the certificate is issued by our accredited laboratory under ISO/IEC 17025. All of it describes the antenna as delivered, with the lens fitted. Take the lens off and the base horn works on its own, but those values and the certificate no longer apply to it.
Antenna data and certification
A lens antenna inside one of our own radomes keeps the gain of the lens and adds the protection of the shell. One part number, one set of measured values, ready for the field.
The radome was developed around the antenna, not bought in, and the lens was designed to work behind it. RF SPIN is the world technology leader in lens antennas with a radome: what other teams still publish as research, we ship as a catalogue antenna with its own measured data.
Outdoor lens antennas
QRH20ECR
1.7 – 20 GHz
QRH43CR
up to 43 GHz
IP65
Ingress rating
The lens is printed from ASA, an engineering polymer chosen for the same reason it is used on the outside of cars: it holds its shape and color under UV light and moisture.
The outer surface is printed solid, so the interior stays sealed against dust and damp, and the edges take repeated handling. In the radome build the assembly is rated IP65. Nothing about the lens asks the antenna to be treated differently from one without it.
What the lens withstands
ASA
Polymer stable under UV and moisture
Sealed
Solid printed surface
IP65
In the radome build
Browse the lens antennas by polarization, or talk to the engineers who designed the lens and measured the results.
