Collapsible parabolic antenna

Claim 1

AN ANTENNA FOR THE FREQUENCY RANGE OF ABOUT 470 TO 890 MEGACYCLES, SUITABLE FOR FOLDING, AND NEVERTHELESS APPROXIMATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A PARABOLOID OF REVOLUTION ABOUT AN AXIS HAVING A FOCAL POINT THEREON, SAID ANTENNA COMPRISING: A BOOM LOCATED ON SAID AXIS; A DIPOLE DRIVEN ELEMENT HAVING AN AXIS AND RESPONSIVE TO SIGNALS WITHIN SAID FREQUENCY RANGE, SAID ELEMENT BEING LOCATED ON SAID BOOM SUBSTANTIALLY AT SAID FOCAL POINT WITH ITS AXIS IN A PLANE NORMAL TO THE AXIS OF THE BOOM WHEREBY SIGNALS IN THE REGION OF SAID FOCAL POINT ENERGIZE SAID DIPOLE; AND, A REFLECTOR UNIT APPROXIMATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A PARABOLOID OF REVOLUTION, SAID UNIT HAVING AT LEAST FOUR PLANAR REFLECTOR ELEMENTS DEFINING A PAIR OF FOUR DIHEDRAL LINES INTERSECTING THE BOOM AT A COMMON POINT AND ORIENTED SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO EACH OTHER AS SEEN IN A PLANE NORMAL TO THE BOOM, SAID DIHEDRAL LINES EACH BEING TILTED IN RELATION TO SAID LAST PLANE BY AN APPROXIMATELY EQUAL ANGLE TO DEFINE A CONCAVE CONFIGURATION TOWARDS THE DRIVEN ELEMENT, THE REFLECTOR UNIT HAVING SUPPORT ARMS LOCATED AT TWO OPPOSED ONES OF SAID DIHEDRAL ANGLES, AND PARALLEL CONDUCTING REFLECTOR ARMS EXTENDING OUT FROM SAID SUPPORT ARMS TO FORM SAID PLANAR REFLECTOR ELEMENTS, THE PARABOLAS HAVING SAID AXIS AND SAID FOCUS AND DEFINING THE PARABOLIC ENVELOPE OF THE DIHEDRAL LINES BEING SPACED BY A SMALL DISTANCE IN RELATION TO THEIR FOCAL DISTANCES.