About ARA

In 1963, Antenna Research Associates, Inc. opened as an engineering and product development company. The late R.Wayne Masters (OSU, Class of ’41, 1987 Distinguished Alumni Award) was President/CTO from the 1960’s thru 1989.

Antenna Research started with an initial focus to develop extremely broadband and electrically small antennas for SIGINT and COMINT applications. Its focus in the field of electromagnetism and broadband antennas led to the development of individually calibrated antennas and test equipment for TEMPEST and EMC testing. From antennas, electromagnetism and EMC testing, the company expanded its role into RF subsystems for communication and ECM/ECCM applications, tactical and military systems. In 2003, Seavey Engineering in Pembroke, MA, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Antenna Research. In 2008 the Mobile and Tactical RF division was created to focus on high volume military antennas. The original Antenna Research company then became the Wide Band division. ARA, Inc. has maintained a leadership role in RF, antenna systems and related technologies, through its notable innovation and excellent production quality.

Today Antenna Research is made up of three main divisions:

The Wide Band Division (WBU)

Leading manufacturer of broad band military antennas for the jamming (counter RF IED), surveillance (signal monitoring), communications, and EMC test markets.

Leading manufacturer of antenna positioner systems including azimuth only and elevation over azimuth configurations

The Mobile and Tactical RF Division (MTR)

Leading manufacturer of military communication antennas for SATCOM, SINCGARS, EPLRS and WNW markets.

Also provides GPS and jamming (counter RF IED) antennas

The Seavey Division (SEA)

Leading manufacturer commercial communication antennas for SATCOM and land based applications.

Provides commercial Weather Radar antenna systems and military Threat Simulator systems.

Antenna Research Quality Commitment

ARA, Inc. has a rigorous Quality Management System (QMS) based upon ISO 9001:2008. Its Beltsville, MD operations are certified to this standard by the British Standards Institution (BSI). In Pembroke, MA we are certified by TUV USA.”

ARA Notable Projects

► Military EW / ELINT

► USAF Joint Threat Emitter Program

► USAF UHF DPA

► Military Communications

♦ DoD JTRS, Tri-Band

♦ US Army Future Combat Systems Program

♦ Northrop Grumman UHBA -

► Military Jamming

♦ Crew

♦ Chameleon Program United States Marine Corps

♦ Hunter Program

♦ Symphony Block 40

► Commercial SATCOM - XM Satellite Radio spectrum management systems

► RADAR Cross Section - Joint Strike Fighter Test Platform

► RADAR Simulators

♦ Northrop Grumman Amherst Systems Joint Threat Emitter

♦ Lockheed Martin ANGPQ 11 Upgrade

► Atmospheric Research - Univ. of Hawaii ANITA Broad Band Horn Antennas

► Unmanned Aeronautical Vehicle - General Atomics Predator

► Weather RADAR - National Weather Service NEXRAD Upgrade Program

ARA FACILITIES

ARA currently has four facilities. ARA maintains its corporate headquarters at 12201 Indian Creek Court, Beltsville, MD, one of three manufacturing facilities located within approximately 3 miles of each other. The total amount of design and manufacturing space is approximately 100,000 sq. ft. The WBU and MTR divisions of ARA occupy the three Maryland buildings with engineering offices, manufacturing assembly areas and a large machine shop. ARA Machine Shop and MTR Business Unit Assembly Areas 11850 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD	ARA Corporate Headquarters and WBU and MTR Division Offices 12201 Indian Creek Court Beltsville, MD ARA has extensive engineering resources, including an outdoor low frequency range that is capable of patterns and gain-testing low gain, low frequency omni and log-periodic antennas. The test tower is a 90 foot extendable tower that supports an Azimuth over Elevation, computer-controlled positioner. The source tower is a 70- foot extendable tower mounted on a trailer. This tower supports the source antenna and has full azimuth and elevation control. The trailer can be moved to optimize the range length for the antenna under test. A HP-8510 is used to measure antenna patterns and gain. The phase lock feature of this vector analyzer provides rejection of interfering signals. AARA also has a large anechoic chamber that can be used to test smaller antennas indoors. The chamber has a 4-foot cubic quiet zone and operates to below 500 MHz. The chamber is electrically sealed to minimize interference and has large absorber cones to allow the low frequency use. The system uses the same type of Azimuth over Elevation positioner as the outdoor range. A second HP8510 is used to measure both amplitude and phase patterns of antennas under test. ARA has Data Acquisition System to record digital patterns of the antennas.

ARA also has a variety other network analyzers to test antennas for gain and VSWR. These include the HP-8720D, HP-E8358A (2), HP-8753D, and HP-8753ES. ARA has a large engineering staff including two Senior Electrical Engineers, 5 Electrical Engineers, 4 Mechanical Engineers and 2 Manufacturing Engineers. There are also 3 technicians to assembly prototypes and test antennas. ARA has several antenna design software packages to assist the design of new products. These software packages include WIPL-D, a Method of Moments program suited for the wire antennas such as log-periodic and omni antennas. This program can analyze plates as well as wires and is used in the design of dipole elements. With this program, ARA can predict the input impedance of a new antenna design. ARA has developed company proprietary program to tune the VSWR of the new design using transmission lines as well as lumped elements. The program FEKO is also used in the design of new antennas. This is a hybrid program that allows the analysis of electrically large antennas or antennas located on vehicles. This is used to optimize the location of an antenna on a vehicle. This program can also be used in the design of waveguide antennas including horns and feed horns for reflectors.
ARA also has the Solid Works CAD software for the design of mechanical models and creation of manufacturing drawings. This software also includes the COSMOS structural analysis program. This is used to assure that the antennas will meet the environmental requirements of the military. This can be used to analyze wind loads as well as shock loads and determine the stresses and strains on the antennas. This allows the antennas to optimize for both structural strength and reduced weight. The newest facility, at 11850 Baltimore Avenue, contains the manufacturing and assembling areas for the MTR business unit. The facility also maintains a complete machine shop with several CNC milling machines and lathes, as well as manual mills and lathes. This facility also has a fiberglass shop capable of producing whip type antennas, as well as a new composites group that provides dish type antennas to the industry. ARA also maintains a large paint booth capable of handling the requirements for all of ARA’s antenna products.	*ARA Warehouse Facility- WBU and MTR* *12113 Indian Creek Court (3 Bays) Beltsville, MD*
The third ARA facility located in Beltsville Maryland is a portion of a building that is currently used as a warehouse of inventory and raw materials.

	ARA Far Field Range Optimized for Low Frequency Antennas Mobile source tower and 90’ tall antenna test tower


	ARA Anechoic Test Chamber with 4’x 4’x 4’ Quite Zone


HP 8510 Vector Analyzer and Pattern Recorder	ARA manufactured AEP-300 antenna positioner with Azimuth over Elevation