PRACTICAL ANTENNAS EMT

CLASSIFICATION OF ANTENNAS BASED ON FREQUENCY

A) RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) ANTENNAS
 Works at few MHz and KHz frequencies.

 Typically a few meters in size with half-wave dipole as central element

 Used in Ground Wave and Sky wave Communications.

B) MICROWAVE ANTENNAS
 Works at few GHz frequencies.

 Typically a few cm size of half-wave dipole and large capture area.

 Used in Line Of Sight (LOS) links, Aerial links, Satellite links.

SALIENT FEATURES OF DIFFERENT RF ANTENNAS

 Long Wire Antennas : Multi Band Operation
 Rhombic Antenna : Elevation Design in Sky-waves
 Loop Antennas : Direction Finding in Ground-Waves

 Ad-Cock Antenna : Direction Finding

 Yagi-Uda Antenna : High Gain, TV Reception

 Helical Antenna : Circular Polarized Sky –Waves
 Turnstile Antenna : Isotropic Reception

 Slot Antenna : Compliment of /2 Dipole

 Corner Reflectors : High Gain
 Bi-Conical / Discone Antenna / Spiral Antenna / Log-Periodic Array : Wide Bandwidth

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RF ANTENNAS
Long Wire Antennas
A Long Wire in multiples of λ/2 serves as antenna for a few frequencies beyond its fundamental
frequency.
Broadside for Odd Multiples of λ/2 and End-Fire for Even Multiples of λ//2
Longer the (n) multiples of λ//2, More the tilt in radiation pattern from Broadside to End-Fire .
The angle made by radiation pattern maxima with wire axis is max.
Depending on the load and termination they can be Resonant and Travelling Wave type.

Rhombic Antenna & V Antenna

V antenna is a combination of two such wire antennas giving a uni-directional pattern along
the V axis.
Rhombic antenna is a combination of two such V antennas, giving a beam along the plane of
the Rhombus.

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 PRACTICAL ANTENNAS EMT

It is used in Sky-wave transmissions for launching waves at desired angles called as Elevation
Angle , with respect to the Earth.
Design Aspects of Rhombic Antenna :

If angle of rhombus is , length of arm is , height above the ground is h,

i)  = 90- ii) h =  /4. sin iii) L =  /2 sin2

Rhombic Antennas are used on Multiple Units Steerable Arrays (MUSA systems) for long
distance radio links.
Loop Antennas
A single wire has isotropic effects in Radiation or Receiving and hence cannot be used to
know the direction of incoming radiation on a Horizontal Earth
A rotating loop whose induced voltage is maximum for a specific direction can always be
used for Direction Finding.
Vrms ( induced ) depends on cos function of the angle between loop area and direction of
arrival of EM radiation.

Its Radiation Resistance Rr = 202 (C / λ)2 , Where C is circumference of Loop

D = 0.7 (C /λ) For Large Loops where C > 2 λ
D = 1.5 For small Loops where C < λ/3

Circular Loop Antenna Adcock Antenna

An Adcock Antenna is also used for direction finding using Four Vertical equi-distant
elements and producing a fixed system, replacing the rotating Loops.

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Helical Antennas

It is a Combination of Array of Horizontal and Vertical Wires giving a polarization in both the
directions resulting in Circular Polarized Waves.
It has two modes of operation depending on its length.

Normal Mode  >> NL Radiation Perpendicular to Axis of Helix

Axial Mode NL >>  Radiation along the Axis of Helix.

It is used in Receiving Signals in unknown Polarizations ,especially in Ionosphere Reflections.

It Radiation Resistance Rr = 140 . (C / )2

Corner Reflector Antennas

A dipole is placed at d distance, between two conducting planes at 900 giving increased
directivity due to method of images is called as Corner Reflector Antenna.
Design requires, L = 2d ,

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Yagi – Uda Antenna

A typical uni-directional Television Reception Antenna, having Central element as a Folded
dipole (To increase Rr by 4 times to 292 )
It has Reflector longer in length than Dipole (5% ) for Cancelling the radiation in one
direction and producing a uni-directional beam.
It has Director shorter in length than Dipole (5% ) for adding the radiation in other direction
and producing a narrow High gain beam. Multiple directors make the beam narrow and
increase directivity but multiple reflectors are never needed.
The inductive and capacitive nature of reflectors and directors produces currents due to
induction which cancel the existing radiations or add to the existing radiations. Therefore
they are called as Parasitic Elements.

These inductions reduce the overall radiations so a Folded Dipole is preferred to give a
overall Radiation resistance of 150 . Folded dipole has 292  of Radiation resistance which
falls to 150 due to parasitic elements.

Turnstile Antenna
A single wire Horizontally placed, has radiation in two directions, when two such wires are
used at 900, It is used for isotropic reception from all 4 directions on the Earth .
An array of turnstile antennas is called as Super Turnstile Antenna. It can be used to achieve
Higher Isotropic Levels for receiving waves of unknown Polarizations.

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 PRACTICAL ANTENNAS EMT

Super Turnstile

Turnstile Arrays

Slot Antenna and Complimentary Slots

A Conductor sheet having a air gap or discontinuity causes EM wave radiations which is
similar to hole in a waveguide having heavy radiations or leakages.
It can be explained with its complimentary slot, which is a dipole antenna or a conductor
placed in free space. The major difference between Slot and Complimentary slot is the
Polarization plane is opposite to each other.

Array of slots along Broad Side Dimensions of Waveguide

WIDE BAND RF ANTENNAS

Log-Periodic Dipole Array (LPDA)

It is an array of /2 Dipoles of unequal lengths each operating at a resonant frequency that
adds to the total bandwidth.
The lengths and spacing is maintained in a logarithmic manner for a optimal bandwidth.

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A similar array can be formed with elements increasing bandwidth in a phased manner
which is called as BiConical Antenna.
The monopole equivalent of this is called as Discone Antenna, which is a Cone over a
Conducting Disc or Ground plane.
A spiral Antenna is a two arm spiral of increasing length for a fairly good frequncy
independent operation or wide band operation. The n element log periodic array when
replaced with a spiralling condcutor length, makes a spiral antenna.

DisCone Antennas

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BiConical Antennas
 PRACTICAL ANTENNAS EMT

Spiral Antennas

MICROWAVE ANTENNAS
At Microwave frequencies of a few GHz, the size of the dipole or central radiating element
becomes a few cm, with Range of operation being a few 1000 km sometimes, a large capture
area is essential in Microwave Antennas.
A parabolic dish or Horn Mouth is effectively used to increase Capture Area.

Parabolic Reflector (Dish Antenna)

A circular mouth with a Parabolic depth, serves as a effective converging structure for
concentrating microwave radiation to a point where a Dipole feed is placed connecting to the
source or receiver.

Optimal f/ D ratio :

 If the dish has a large focal length f than D diameter of the mouth,
There is heavy spill over and under utilization of the Dipole Radiation.
 If the dish has a very small focal length f than D diameter of the mouth,

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 PRACTICAL ANTENNAS EMT
There is no proper utilization of the conductor or Improper Illumination results,
Optimal placement of the feed ensures proper radiation and reduces minor lobes and ensures
excellent focusing, which needs = 
Gain & Beam Angles :
 
Capture Area = Ae = =  R2 Gain G =
  

Practically , With 60% Conductor Efficiency , under optimal conditions, G = 6 =

HPBW = 580  / D =  / D ,Radians

Feed Mechanisms :

A simple dipole feeding the Parabolic Dish cannot properly illuminate the Conductor ,
considering the relative sizes of the elements. The bidirectional radiation also is a improper
utilization of the transmitter power.
Horn feed is an improvement over the dipole but suffers from Shadow Zone formation.

Off-set feed is preferred for avoiding shadow zones but improves heavy side lobes.

Cassegrain and Gregorian feed mechanisms are excellent for Efficient Radiations.

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Horn Antenna

It is an opened out waveguide to give excellent directivity to the EM wave radiation coming out
into the free space. Its gradually changing dimensions ensure a perfect impedance matching
between Free space (120) and Waveguide (120 / cos) Impedances. Its flaring angle ensures a
optimal wave-front formation for the EM wave radiating out of the guide.

A perfect design ensures the right length and height of the horn dimensions.

Gain Calculations result in G = 7.5 A / 2, HPBW = 560  /w or 670  /h

Where h and w are the dimensions of the mouth of the horn. Area = h.w

Horn can be Sectorial horns as in E plane or H plane Horns.

Microstrip or Patch Antenna

It is a Microstrip line opened out to increase its capture area and hence its Gain. They are
commonly used in low gain , High Bandwidth applications. They have Polarization independent
design and are widely used for Mobile Phones due to their ease of construction and extremely
light weight design.
Array of Patch antennas for increased Gain

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 PRACTICAL ANTENNAS EMT

Array of Patch Antennas for increased Gains

Lens Antenna
It works on the principle of focusing electromagnetic radiation by using a lens along the feed or
radiating element.
They are of two types :
Dielectric Lens or Delay type or H plane type.
Metal Lens or E plane type.

Dielectric Lens Metal Plate Lens

The disadvantages of Lens antennas are that they are quite bulky and quite expensive.
The weight is reduced by zoning and stepping at the edges.

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