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 focuses that wave into a much narrower 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.
The lens adds gain where a bigger horn would add size, and it shapes the beam the horn radiates. Three reasons to fit it, and an honest look at what it costs.
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.
The same gain from a larger horn would cost length, mass and a wider aperture, and at millimeter-wave frequencies tighter machining as well. The lens delivers it while the horn keeps its size.
The lens ensures that the maximum of the beam sits on the antenna axis across the band. Point the antenna at the device under test and you work with its peak gain, the value in its measured data.
The antenna gets a little longer and heavier, and the beam gets narrower. Across the range the lens adds up to 10 dB of gain, 10 to 40 % in length and 25 to 610 g, depending on the model. On most models the lens comes off and goes back on, so one antenna works in both modes: the narrow high-gain beam, and the wide beam of the base horn for a large device under test or near-field work. With PLUS, both modes can be calibrated.
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, power rating
The patent covers the lens as a product, and every lens antenna in the range carries it. It protects the shape of the lens and its internal structure.
US 12,665,315 B2 · Antenna Lens
Feb 2024
Application filed
Jun 2026
Patent granted
In-house
Designed, printed and verified
Every chart shows 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.
Typical data for the same horn design with and without the lens, DRH18-EC against DRH18-E.
Measured on DRH18-E / DRH18-EC
+10.2 dB
Peak gain difference, 14.3 GHz
+6.5 dB
Average gain difference, 1 – 18 GHz
11° / 9°
E / H beamwidth, 14 GHz, 47° / 39° without the lens
1.27
Average VSWR, 1 – 18 GHz, 1.23 without the lens
These are typical curves. Every unit is measured before it ships, and its own measured data comes through the Antenna Portal, depending on your data tier.
See the Antenna PortalSingle and dual polarized ridged horns from 500 MHz to 44 GHz. Each lens antenna is a model of its own and ships with its lens. 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.
4 – 22 dBi · N connector · 1.76 kg
Without the lens: 4 – 17 dBi
5 – 23 dBi · N connector · 1.40 kg
Without the lens: 6 – 15 dBi
6 – 24 dBi · SMA connector · 442 g
Without the lens: 5 – 17 dBi
5 – 22 dBi · K connector · 187 g
Without the lens: 5 – 20 dBi
16 – 29 dBi · K connector
Without the lens: 15 – 24 dBi
3 – 20 dBi · SMA connector · 1.50 kg
Without the lens: 3 – 15.5 dBi
5 – 23 dBi · SMA connector · 1.37 kg
Without the lens: 5 – 16 dBi
5 – 22 dBi · SMA connector · 477 g
Without the lens: 5 – 15.5 dBi
6 – 22 dBi · K connector · 93 g
Without the lens: 6 – 16 dBi
The lens is part of the antenna and is not designed to be removed.
Specifications at launch
QRH20EC in a radome
Specifications at launch
Each unit is measured in our own chamber and ships with a calibration certificate. The certificate and the data cover the antenna as delivered, with the lens fitted.
Antenna data tiersData tiers
ESSENTIAL
Calibration certificate, measured data can be unlocked later
PLUS
Measured data of your unit, both modes can be calibrated
ACCREDITED
Certificate from our ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory, lens fitted
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, built for the field.
The radome was developed around the antenna, not bought in, and the lens was designed to work behind it. Measured on our radome horns, the shell costs under 1 dB of gain on average across the band, a fraction of what the lens adds. 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. The lens does not lower the power rating either: every lens antenna takes the same maximum input power as its base horn, up to 150 W CW. 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.
