Experiment: RADIATION PATTERN AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTIC OF A

DIPOLE ANTENNA

OBJECTIVES
1. To familiarize ourselves with dipole antennas.
2. To appreciate the directional radiation characteristics of dipole antenna and know how
to plot its radiation pattern
3. To know how to measure the beam-width and gain of an antenna

MATERIALS USED
1. Rotating antenna platform
2. 1 dipole antenna and one yagi-uda antenna of 500 MHz of frequency (receiver and
transmitter)
3. A 230ACV power supply
4. Oscillator
5. 2 RF cable
6. Laboratory bench
7. Stand base for Antennas
8. 1 Set thumb screws
9. A computer with a ED3200 ANTENNA TRAINER SOFTWARE

INTRODUCTION
Antenna are essential components in the transmission and reception of radio waves. In the
microwave range, highly directive antennas capable of producing the narrow beams required
for the line-of-sight links and satellite communications can be designed. The dipole antenna,
whose radiation characteristics are investigated in this lab, plays an important role a radiator of
microwave energy in its own right and also as a primary feed for reflector antennas employed
in microwave radio links and radar.

DIPOLE ANTENNA BASICS

In radio and telecommunications a dipole antenna or doublet is the simplest and most widely
used class of antenna. It consists of two identical conductive elements such as metal wires or
rods, which are usually bilaterally symmetrical. The driving current from the transmitter is
applied, or for receiving antennas the output signal to the receiver is taken, between the two
halves of the antenna. Each side of the feedline to the transmitter or receiver is connected to
one of the conductors. This contrasts with a monopole antenna, which consists of a single rod
or conductor with one side of the feedline connected to it, and the other side connected to some
type of ground. A common example of a dipole is the "rabbit ears" television antenna found on
broadcast television sets.…In this section, the dipole antenna with a very thin radius is
considered. The dipole antenna is similar to the short dipole except it is not required to be small
compared to the wavelength (at the frequency the antenna is operating at)..
One of the most common applications of the dipole antenna is the rabbit ears or bunny ears television
antenna, found atop broadcast television receivers. It is used to receive the VHF terrestrial television
bands consisting of 52 to 88 MHz (band I) and 174 to 216 MHz (band III), with wavelengths of 5.5 to
1.4 m. Since this frequency range is much wider than a single fixed dipole antenna can cover, it is made
with several degrees of adjustment. It is constructed of two telescoping rods that can be extended out
to about 1 m length (approximately one quarter wavelength at 52 MHz). Instead of being fixed in
opposing directions, these elements can be adjusted at an angle in a "V" shape. The reason for the V
shape is that when receiving channels at the top of the band, the antenna elements will typically
resonate at their 3rd harmonic. In this mode the direction of maximum gain is no longer perpendicular
to the rods, but the radiation pattern will have lobes at an angle to the rods, making it advantageous
to be able to adjust them to various angles. Dipole antennas offer the advantage of receiving balanced
signals. The two-pole design enables the device to receive signals from a variety of frequencies. It also
helps the device sort out problems caused by conflicting signals without losing reception quality.

Basic dipole types

The dipole antenna consists of two conductive elements such as metal wires or rods which are
fed by a signal source or feed energy that has been picked up to a receiver. The energy may be
transferred to and from the dipole antenna either directly straight into a from the electronic
instrument, or it may be transferred some distance using a feeder. This leaves considerable
room for a variety of different antenna formats.

Although the dipole antenna is often though in its half wave format, there are nevertheless
many forms of the antenna that can be used.

 Half wave dipole antenna: The half wave dipole antenna is the one that is most
widely used . Being half a wavelength long it is a resonant antenna. Read more about
the Half wave dipole
 Multiple half waves dipole antenna: It is possible to utilise a dipole antenna or aerial
that is an odd multiple of half wavelengths long.
 Folded dipole antenna: As the name implies this form of the dipole aerial or dipole
antenna is folded back on itself. While still retaining the length between the ends of
 half a wavelength, an additional length of conductor effectively connects the two ends
together. Read more about the Folded-dipole
 Short dipole: A short dipole antenna is one where the length is much shorter than
that of half a wavelength. Where a dipole antenna is shorter than half a wavelength,
the feed impedance starts to rise and its response is less dependent upon frequency
changes. Its length also becomes smaller and this has many advantages. It is found that
the current profile of the antenna approximately a triangular distribution. Read more
about the Short-dipole
 Non-resonant dipole: A dipole antenna may be operated away from its resonant
frequency and fed with a high impedance feeder. This enables it to operate over a
much wider bandwidth.

Fig.1: Dipole antenna

PROCEDURE
1) The antenna measurement system is set-up according to the lab Guide or manual book for
Dipole Antenna.
2) Make all connections while power system is OFF.
3) Switch on the entire system and take initial antenna measurement
4) A set of dipole antennas is provided with the experiment set.
5) Align the two antennas for maximum reception.
6) Rotate the transmitting dipole antenna to produce the required wave polarization for E-plane
and H-plane pattern measurements.
7) Run the ANTENNA TRAINER SOFTWARE installed on a computer watch the antenna
until it rotates twice (3600)
8) Analyze the E- and H-plane radiation pattern of the dipole antenna.
Fig. 2: Dipole antenna (E plane)
 Fig. 3: Dipole antenna (H plane)

OBSERVATIONS
The radiation pattern of a dipole antenna is of particular importance.
The radiation pattern reflects the 'sensitivity' of the antenna in different directions and
knowledge of this allows the antenna to be orientated in the optimum direction to ensure the
required performance.
The patterns are the same since the gain of the dipole was approximately -7.6 dB in the E plane
and -8.0 dB for the H plane when both dipole antenna and yagi antenna are facing each other
(0 degree) and at 180 degree.

YAGI ANTENNA
Experiment: RADIATION PATTERN AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTIC OF A
YAGI ANTENNA

OBJECTIVES
1. To familiarize ourselves with yagi antennas.
 2. To appreciate the directional radiation characteristics of yagi antenna and know how to
plot its radiation pattern
3. To know how to measure the beam-width and gain of an antenna

MATERIALS USED
1. Rotating antenna platform
2. 1 dipole antenna and one yagi-uda antenna of 500 MHz of frequency (receiver and
transmitter)
3. A 230ACV power supply
4. Oscillator
5. 2 RF cable
6. Laboratory bench
7. Stand base for Antennas
8. 1 Set thumb screws
9. A computer with a ED3200 ANTENNA TRAINER SOFTWARE

INTRODUCTION
Antennas are essential components in the transmission and reception of radio waves. In the
microwave range, highly directive antennas capable of producing the narrow beams required
for the line-of-sight links and satellite communications can be designed. The yagi antenna,
whose radiation characteristics are investigated in this lab, plays an important role a radiator of
microwave energy in its own right.

YAGI ANTENNA BASICS

A Yagi–Uda antenna, commonly known as a Yagi antenna, is a directional

antenna consisting of multiple parallel elements in a line,[1] usually half-wave dipoles made of
metal rods.[2] Yagi–Uda antennas consist of a single driven element connected to
the transmitter or receiver with a transmission line, and additional parasitic elements: a so-
called reflector and one or more directors.[2][3][4] It was invented in 1926 by Shintaro
Uda of Tohoku Imperial University, Japan,[5] and (with a lesser role played by his
colleague) Hidetsugu Yagi.[5][6]
The reflector element is slightly longer than the driven dipole, whereas the directors are a
little shorter.[4] This design achieves a very substantial increase in the
antenna's directionality and gain compared to a simple dipole.
Also called a "beam antenna",[4] the Yagi is very widely used as a high-gain antenna on
the HF, VHF and UHF bands.[3][4] It has moderate gain which depends on the number of
elements used, typically limited to about 17 dBi,[3] linear polarization,[3]unidirectional (end-
fire) beam pattern[3] with high front-to-back ratio of up to 20 db. and is lightweight,
inexpensive and simple to construct.[3] The bandwidth of a Yagi antenna, the frequency range
over which it has high gain, is narrow, a few percent of the center frequency, and decreases
with increasing gain,[3][4] so it is often used in fixed-frequency applications. The largest and
best-known use is as rooftop terrestrial television antennas,[3] but it is also used for point-to-
point fixed communication links,[2] in radar antennas,[4] and for long
distance shortwave communication by shortwave broadcasting stations and radio amateurs.
Theory of operation
Consider a Yagi–Uda consisting of a reflector, driven element and a single director as shown
here. The driven element is typically a λ/2 dipole or folded dipole and is the only member of
the structure that is directly excited (electrically connected to the feedline). All the other
elements are considered parasitic. That is, they reradiate power which they receive from the
driven element (they also interact with each other).
One way of thinking about the operation of such an antenna is to consider a parasitic element
to be a normal dipole element fed at its centre, with a short circuit across its feed point. As is
well known in transmission line theory, a short circuit reflects all of the incident power 180
degrees out of phase. So one could as well model the operation of the parasitic element as the
superposition of a dipole element receiving power and sending it down a transmission line to
a matched load, and a transmitter sending the same amount of power up the transmission line
back toward the antenna element. If the transmitted voltage wave were 180 degrees out of
phase with the received wave at that point, the superposition of the two voltage waves would
give zero voltage, equivalent to shorting out the dipole at the feedpoint (making it a solid
element, as it is). Thus a half-wave parasitic element radiates a wave 180° out of phase with
the incident wave.

Fig.1: Yagi antenna

PROCEDURE
1. The antenna measurement system is set-up according to the lab Guide or manual book
for Yagi Antenna.
2. Make all connections while power system is OFF.
3. Switch on the entire system and take initial antenna measurement
4. A set of Yagi antennas is provided with the experiment set.
5. Align the two antennas for maximum reception.
6. Rotate the transmitting dipole antenna to produce the required wave polarization for E-
plane and H-plane pattern measurements.
7. Run the ANTENNA TRAINER SOFTWARE installed on a computer watch the
antenna until it rotates twice (3600)
8. Analyze the E- and H-plane radiation pattern of the dipole antenna
EXPLANATION
Here we considered yagi antenna with different number of elements after which we
analyzed the effect of reducing the elements.
We noticed that as we reduced the number of elements the radiation pattern was also
reducing since it’s the elements that concentrate the radiated beam in a given direction
therefore reducing them will definitely also reduce the radiation pattern of the yagi as
shown in the diagrams below consecutively from five elements to two elements.
Fig. 2: Yagi antenna with all elements (E plane)
Fig. 3: Yagi antenna with all elements (H plane)
Fig. 3: Yagi antenna with four elements (E plane)
Fig. 3: Yagi antenna with four elements (H plane)
Fig. 3: Yagi antenna with three elements (H and E planes)
 Fig. 3: Yagi antenna with two elements (H and E planes)

OBSERVATIONS
As we have seen from the above diagrams the yagi antenna showed different radiation
characteristics for the different gains used and also the different number of elements used which
showed different reductions in the radiation patterns as the yagi rotated to complete the 360
degree cycle.

FOLDED DIPOLE
In its basic form the folded dipole antenna consists of a basic dipole with an added conductor
connecting the two ends together to make a complete loop of wire or other conductor. As the
ends appear to be folded back, the antenna is called a folded dipole.
The basic format for the folded dipole aerial is shown below. As can be seen from this it is a
balanced antenna, like the standard dipole, although it can be fed with unbalanced feeder
provided that a balun of some form is used to transform from an unbalanced to balanced feed
structure.
 Fig4 half wave dipole antenna

For the folded dipole we looked at different polarizations that is vertical and horizontal
polarizations.

FOLDED ANTENNA
Experiment: RADIATION PATTERN AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTIC OF A
FOLDED ANTENNA

OBJECTIVES
1. To familiarize ourselves with folded antennas.
2. To appreciate the directional radiation characteristics of folded antenna and know how
to plot its radiation pattern
3. To know how to measure the beam-width and gain of an antenna

MATERIALS USED
1. Rotating antenna platform
2. 1 folded antenna and one yagi-uda antenna of 500 MHz of frequency (receiver and
transmitter)
3. A 230ACV power supply
4. Oscillator
5. 2 RF cable
6. Laboratory bench
7. Stand base for Antennas
8. 1 Set thumb screws
9. A computer with a ED3200 ANTENNA TRAINER SOFTWARE
 A) Same polarization
Below we looked at the case when the folded dipole was in the same polarization as the yagi
antenna for both the E and H plane and we analyzed the radiation patterns for both planes as
shown below.

Fig.1 Folded dipole E-plane.

 Fig.1 Folded dipole H-plane.

SUMMARY
The radiation diagram of horn antennas has been investigated experimentally using a basic
microwave test bench. In fact it was difficult to align properly both horn antenna so that to get
the best radiation what has as consequence a radiation pattern not totally identical to the
radiation pattern of basic pyramidal horn antenna