3D-Printed Modified Dielectric Rod Applied to a Legacy Ku-Band LNB Horn: Experimental Assessment and Performance Comparison

This paper presents an analysis of a modified dielectric rod integrated into a commercial Low Noise Block (LNB) downconverter to achieve gain enhancement in the Kuband. The proposed dielectric rod features a compact and customized geometry and excited by an LNB front-end supporting both vertical and horizontal polarizations. The proposed dielectric rod is manufactured using fused filament fabrication (FFF) with polylactic acid (PLA), considering an optimized infill density of 55 %. The assessments include comparative analysis between simulation and measurements results, demonstrating good agreement and effective integration performance. The S11 values over the operation frequency range remain below -15 dB for both polarizations, and the maximum measured gain is 13.3 dBi. The results provide insight into the viability of additively manufactured dielectric rods as low-cost enhancements for satellite reception systems.