== A Low-Cost Alternative to Costly Anechoic Chambers ==
The [[NeoScan]]-ANT system configuration comes with an operational software that quickly determines and suggests the optimal parameters for the fastest scan. Based on the physical aperture size, height of the probe above the radiating aperture, and desired angular accuracy, scan parameters such as the total scan area and mechanical step resolution are estimated using the near-field scanning theory. The higher the required field-of-view (FOV) angular accuracy, the larger the scan area. Prior physical knowledge of the radiation characteristics of the antenna under test can help you make more judicious choices for some of these parameters. For example, when scanning a high gain antenna array with very low side lobe levels pointing in the direction of bore sight, you need a smaller FOV angular accuracy. The angular requirements, of course, rapidly begin to change as you steer the beam of a high gain phased array antenna towards grazing angles once undesired grating lobes start to appear. Note that the [[NeoScan]] user can always override all the default or recommended settings and take total control of the operation manually.