US006529169B2

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.: US 6,529,169 B2

Justice (45) Date of Patent: Mar. 4, 2003

(54) TWIN COIL ANTENNA (56) References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
(75) Inventor: Christopher M. Justice, Fortuna, CA
(US) 3,665,476 A * 5/1972 Taylor ...................... .. 343/701
4,101,899 A * 7/1978 Jones et al. .. 343/788
(73) Assignee: C. Crane Company, Inc., Fortuna, CA 4,712,112 A * 12/1987 Carr ......................... .. 344/788
(US) 4,928,108 A * 5/1990 Kropielnicki et al. ..... .. 343/704
5,084,699 A * 1/1992 DeMichele .......... .. 340/82554
(*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 5,420,579 A 5/1995 Urbas
patent is extended or adjusted under 35 5,767,816 A * 6/1998 Cosman .................... .. 343/788
U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. 6,163,305 A 12/2000 Murakami et al.
6,172,608 B1 * 1/2002 Cole ..................... .. 340/5721

(21) Appl. No.: 09/900,317 * cited by examiner

(22) Filed: Jul. 6, 2001 Primary Examiner—Tho Phan

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Gray, Cary, Ware &
(65) Prior Publication Data Freidenrich
US 2002/0003503 A1 Jan. 10, 2002
(57) ABSTRACT
Related US. Application Data A ferrite core antenna having tWo spaced signal pick-up
(60) Provisional application No. 60/216,267, ?led on Jul. 6,
2000.
coils coupled through a transformer so that the signals from
the tWo coils are additively combined in the primary of the
(51) Int. Cl.7 ................................................ .. H01Q 7/08 transformer. Avariable capacitor connected to the tWo coils
(52) US. Cl. ..................... .. 343/788; 343/745; 343/787; tunes the antenna to selected frequencies. This results in
343/867 ampli?cation of the signal.
(58) Field of Search ............................... .. 343/741, 742,
343/744, 745, 787, 788, 866, 867; H01Q 7/08 13 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets

27
U.S. Patent Mar. 4, 2003 Sheet 1 0f 4 US 6,529,169 B2

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33
FIG. 1
PRIORART H? g /
U.S. Patent Mar. 4, 2003 Sheet 2 0f 4 US 6,529,169 B2

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U.S. Patent Mar. 4, 2003 Sheet 3 0f 4 US 6,529,169 B2

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PRIMARY COMBINING PRECISION

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TI BANDWIDTH RECOLATEO
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COAxIAL CABLE —
TO CONTROL BOX
OUTPUT
TRANSFORMER OLITPOT TO RECEIvER
U.S. Patent Mar. 4, 2003 Sheet 4 0f 4 US 6,529,169 B2

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 US 6,529,169 B2
1 2
TWIN COIL ANTENNA does not saturate at high frequencies. This is accomplished
by an antenna structure Which employs a ferrite core having
This application claims bene?t of Provisional application tWo (or more) coils coupled together and located on the
Ser. No. 60/216,267, ?led Jul. 6, 2000. ferrite core such that the magnetic ?elds coupled to the coils
induce signals Which combine to produce a resulting signal
TECHNICAL FIELD level equivalent to the combined signals in the coils. The
coils may be coupled through a transformer Where the
The invention relates to an active ferrite core radio
combined signals of the coils are received in the primary of
receiver antenna combined With an inductive and capaci the transformer. The transformer coupling the antenna coils
tance netWork for receiving and conveying signal energy 10 can dramatically narroW the bandWidth of the received
betWeen the active antenna and receiver. The active antenna
signal. In addition, the antenna coils and the transformer
comprises a resonant circuit Which is electronically tunable
Windings may be connected to a capacitor to form a resonant
to a frequency of interest.
circuit. The capacitor may be variable so the resonant
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION frequency of the antenna may be set by tuning the capacitor.
15 This results in an increased signal level and reduced inter
Ferrite core antennas are Widely used as antennas for ference and noise.
radio receivers, particularly for AM broadcast band radios,
to increase radiation resistance over that simple HertZian BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
dipole antenna. This is done by forming the conducting FIG. 1 shoWs a conventional ferrite core antenna of the
element of the antenna in a coil or loop, and placing a ferrite 20 prior art;
body inside the loop. The ferrite has the effect of concen FIG. 2 shoWs a ferrite rod antenna With a pair of coils
trating and intensifying the received magnetic ?eld inside coupled through a tuning capacitor, and the coils being 180
the loop. This is the result of the high permeability, p, of the degrees out of phase;
ferrite material. The incorporation of ferrite into the antenna
FIG. 3 shoWs a representation of the signals at the outputs
coil is most easily accomplished by Winding the antenna coil 25
of the Windings of the antenna shoWn in FIG. 2;
around the ferrite rod.
FIG. 4 shoWs an embodiment of a ferrite rod antenna of
The use of a ferrite rod increases the loop’s radiation
the invention having a pair of coils, coupled through a
resistance by a factor of #62, Where Me, is the ferrite’s variable tuning capacitor and a transformer, Where the
effective magnetic permeability. Typically, for frequencies tuning capacitor and the transformer are electrically in
in the 100 to 2000 kHZ range, the value of pie for typical 30
parallel;
ferrites is from about 100 to about 10,000. Thus, for a value
FIG. 5 shoWs a representation of the signals at the output
of ye of, e.g., 1,000, ferrite can increase the antenna’s
of the transformer of the antenna shoWn in FIG. 4;
radiation resistance, over a HertZian dipole, by a factor of
1,000,000. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of another embodiment of an
The ferrite core or rod itself tends to absorb some of the 35
antenna of the invention, the ?gure shoWing the antenna
signal poWer. This represents the Work done in “?ipping” the coupled to associated electronics; and
alignment of the magnetic domains inside the core With each FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of the antenna of FIG. 6.
signal element. This ferrite rod “ferrite resistance” adds DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
resistance in series With the antenna. Even With this added EMBODIMENTS
40
resistance, the antenna’s resistance is typically just a feW
The invention is particularly applicable to antennas used
ohms, or even one ohm or less. HoWever, in operation, the
With conventional radio receivers for use in loW frequency
antenna must be coupled to a large impedance of the receiver
electronics. This is usually accomplished by adding a bands,
(LF), mid-Wave
and Will (MW)
be described
frequency,
in and
that high
conteXt.
frequency
By proper
capacitor to turn the antenna loop into a resonant circuit.
45 selection of materials and components, the invention may
HoWever, When a signal enters a ferrite rod antenna that also be used With radio receivers operating at VHF and UHF
is tuned to resonance With a coil and capacitor, the magnetic frequencies. It Will be appreciated, hoWever, that these uses
lines of ?uX begin to saturate. This is due to sympathetic are illustrative of only one utility of the invention.
resonance. Sympathetic resonance is much like setting tWo FIG. 1 illustrated a conventional knoWn ferrite rod
guitars close to each other and plucking the string on one of 50 antenna 1 such as may be used in a conventional AM
the guitars. If both strings are tuned the same, the plucked broadcast band radio receiver. As shoWn, the antenna may
string sound Waves Will cause the corresponding string on
comprise an elongated ferrite rod 3 Which has an RF tuning
the other guitar to vibrate identically. When this saturation coil 7 Wound about one end of the rod. Asecond pick-up coil
occurs in a ferrite core antenna, the ferrite rod antenna takes
5 may be Wound around the rod adjacent to the RF tuning
on polarity, much like a standard magnet. Ferrite antennas of
coil. One end of the pick-up coil may be grounded as shoWn
the prior art have only one pick-up coil, and this coil receives at 13. The other end 9 of the pick-up coil provides the output
the sympathetic resonance from only one-half of the ferrite
signal. The RF tuning coil may be connected in parallel With
rod. This results in loss of ef?ciency and limits the signal a tuning capacitor 11 to form a resonant circuit Which may
to-noise ratio available to the receiver electronics.
be tuned to desired frequencies of interest. In operation, the
Thus, there is a need for improved efficiency and a higher 60 ferrite rod concentrates the magnetic ?eld inside of the
signal-to-noise ratio antenna that does not saturate at high tuning coil 7 at the frequency to Which the resonant circuit
frequencies, and it is to these ends that the present invention is tuned. The energy in the RF tuning coil is coupled by
is directed. transformer action and sympathetic resonance to pick-up
coil 5 Which outputs the signal at 9 to the radio receiver. As
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
65 described previously, since the antenna 1 uses only one
The invention provides an antenna for a radio receiver pick-up coil and only one-half of the ferrite rod, it exhibits
that has high ef?ciency, high signal-to-noise ratio and that loW ef?ciency and loW signal-to-noise ratio.
 US 6,529,169 B2
3 4
In contrast, the invention provides a multiple coil ferrite in the operating frequency range of interest. By proper
antenna that provides high ef?ciency and high signal-to selection of the ferrite material to saturate at VHF and UHF
noise ratio. As a result, it affords substantially better radio frequencies, and by matching the inductances, ferrite mate
reception than conventional ferrite rod antennas of the type rial and coupling transformer, the antenna of the invention
illustrated in FIG. 1. As Will be explained in more detail may also be used at VHF and UHF frequencies.
beloW, the invention employs tWo or more spaced coils on
The antenna of the invention can be incorporated into any
a ferrite core. Magnetic ?elds inside of the ferrite core
receiver that uses or is designed for use With a conventional
induce signals in the spaced coils. The coils are coupled to
a combiner Which combines the signals additively from the ferrite rod antenna, e.g., for reception of any LW, MW, HF,
spaced coils to provide a signi?cantly higher signal level to VHF and UHF frequency band signals. Also, from the
the radio receiver. Preferably, Was Will be described beloW, foregoing, it Will be recogniZed that additional re?nements
the combiner comprises a transformer With the primary of can be made in the antenna to enable it to be used for other
the transformer connected to the spaced coils. The coils may frequencies, since the operating frequency bandWidth can
also be connected to a variable capacitor to form a tuned easily be manipulated by adjusting the inductance of the
resonant circuit, With the frequency of resonance determined secondary transformer 33. The antenna can be used easily as
15 a replacement unit to improve reception on any conventional
by the combined inductance of the coils and the transformer.
Each coil is used for both tuning and for pick-up. The signals radio receiver that has LW, MW, HF, VHF and UHF fre
from each coil are opposite in phase but are combined quency bands, and also has applications for other frequen
c1es.
additively in the primary of the transformer to result in a
signi?cantly higher received RF signal. Tuning the antenna A ferrite core antenna according to a preferred embodi
by means of the variable capacitor signi?cantly enhances ment of the invention is shoWn in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is
signal-to-noise ratio since it reduces the effective bandWidth a functional block diagram of the antenna and associated
of the antenna to discriminate against interfering signals and electronics, and FIG. 7 is a more detailed circuit diagram of
reduce the noise coupled to the receiver. an example of the antenna of FIG. 6. For purposes of
FIGS. 2 and 3 shoW a ferrite rod antenna, 21, having tWo illustration, the circuit is shoWn disposed on tWo boards, an
25
spaced coils, 27, 28 Wound about a ferrite rod 23 adjacent Antenna board and a Control board connected by a cable 50.
opposite ends of the rod, and connected to a variable tuning It Will be appreciated, hoWever, that a single board may also
capacitor 31. One coil 27 receives 0—180 degrees of the be used. The illustrated embodiment in FIGS. 6 and 7 is
incoming signal, e.g., an unmodulated sine Wave, and the intended for the MW broadcast band, but it Will be appre
other coil 28 receives 180—0 degrees of the incoming signal. ciated that the principles may be readily extended to other
Thus, the signals on terminals A and B from coils 27 and 28 frequency bands.
are inverted and out of phase as shoWn in FIG. 3, Where the As shoWn in the FIGURES, the signal from transformer
combined Waveforms from terminals A and B have a result 33 may be fed into a J-FET push/pull ampli?er 136, com
ant of 0 volts peak-to-peak. Thus, in the arrangement of FIG. prising transistors Q1 and Q2, resistors R3 and R4, and hot
2, the signals effectively cancel themselves out because the 35
carrier diodes D1 and D2, for linear ampli?cation of the
RF potential betWeen the tWo coils becomes Zero volts When signal. Hot carrier diodes are preferably used on the drains
the signals are combined, i.e., the signals subtract as indi of the FETs for an ultra-quick discharge of the capacitor C2
cated in the vieW of the Waveforms in FIG. 3. connecting the drains of Q1 and Q2. There results a notice
By Way of contrast and comparison, in a tWin coil antenna able improvement in bandWidth and improved AM ampli
according to the invention, the signals are combined so as to ?cation When the hot carrier diodes Were used. The outputs
be additive. This is shoWn in FIGS. 4 and 5 Where the signals from the sources of transistors Q1, Q2 of the push-pull
from the coils 27, 28 are combined through the primary of ampli?er 136 are supplied to a transformer T2. Transformer
a transformer 33. As an example, coils, 27 and 28, may be T2 is preferably a center tapped transformer that feeds
40 turns of 12 strand LitZ Wire, 12 mm diameter, inserted voltage from a poWer supply to the sources of the J -FETs.
over the ends of the ferrite rod. The Winding rotation is in the 45
The signal is ampli?ed and the combined output of the
same direction on both coils, i.e., coil 27 has right hand ampli?ers can be seen on the secondary of Transformer T2.
rotation and coil 28 has right hand rotation on the Windings. The output of transformer T2 is sent through a capacitor
The total inductance (L1) of the circuit of FIG. 4 is the totals 43 and then to transistor Q3 Which is used as a buffer
inductance of coils 27 and 28 and the transformer 33. The ampli?er to drive loW impedance applications. The emitter
antenna 21 of FIG. 4 is resonant at the frequency set by the 46 of transistor Q3 goes through a ?lter 47 comprising an
total inductance and the capacitance (C) of tuning capacitor inductor L3 and capacitor C6 to eliminate loW frequency
31. These elements form an LC resonant circuit. The inven oscillations. The collector 45 output of transistor Q3 goes
tion produces a signi?cant increase in signal strength over a through a capacitor 48 for decoupling and to a 330-ohm
conventional ferrite antenna. resistor 49 for impedance matching and to eliminate feed
The secondary of transformer 33 serves tWo purposes. 55 back in a cable 50 connected to a jack J 1. The signal from
First, it is the signal pick-up coil for the transformer 33, and, transistor Q3 and capacitor 48 is the combined output
second, it also limits the output bandWidth of the signal. signals from coils 27 and 28.
Varying the inductance of the secondary Winding of trans The output signal from Q3 is driven through the cable 50
former Will correspondingly make the output signal band and may be terminated in a toroid transformer 131 on the
Width greater or narroWer. A narroWer bandWidth increases control board. The output of this toroid transformer is
the amplitude, reduces the noise and interference, and results matched to drive the front-end of the receiver directly or it
in greater signal to noise ratio and more overall gain at the may be inductively coupled to a receiver’s existing ferrite
frequency to Which the antenna is tuned. antenna using a plug-in ferrite bar antenna.
The type of ferrite used Will vary depending on the The antenna is tuned electronically With a voltage con
operating frequency desired. There are many types of ferrite 65 trolled variable capacitance varactor diode D3 through a
available, as is Well knoWn to those skilled in the art, and one netWork of components that keep the tuning voltage stable
may be selected that has the best saturation and permeability and accurate even in the presence of a varying DC poWer
 US 6,529,169 B2
5 6
supply voltage and induced RF through the connecting What is claimed is:
cable. The reference voltage for the tuning may be taken 1. An antenna for a radio receiver comprising a ferrite rod;
from a transistor Q4, Which serves as a 5-volt regulator. The spaced coils Wound about the ferrite rod; a variable capacitor
regulated 5 volts from Q4 may be fed through a 56 k ohms element connecting each coil together; and a combiner
51 Which is in series With variable resistors 121 and 122 on connecting each coil together, the combiner additively com
the control board, and to the in put of an operational bining out-of-phase signals induced in the coils by received
ampli?er 52. Variable resistors 121 and 122, may have radio signals so as to provide an output signal corresponding
values of 100 k ohms and 5 k ohms, respectively, serve as to the sum of the out-of-phase signals in the coils.
manual coarse and ?ne tuning controls for the varactor diode 2. The antenna of claim 1, Wherein said combiner com
D3, and act together With resistor 51 as a very stable voltage 10 prises a transformer.
divider. The output of the voltage divider is directly fed into 3. The antenna of claim 2, Wherein the out-of-phase
the operational ampli?er’s non-inverting (+) input. Resistors signals from the coils are connected to opposite ends of a
61 and 62 form another voltage divider and give feedback to primary Winding of said transformer, and said output signal
the inverting (—) input of ampli?er 52 to alloW greater is supplied from a secondary Winding of said transformer.
voltage range that is fully regulated at the output. A resistor 15 4. The antenna of claim 3, Wherein said coils, said
63 is a load resistor on the output of the ampli?er for transformer and said variable capacitor form a resonant
stability. This output voltage is fed into a loW frequency RF circuit Which is tuned by said variable capacitor.
?lter comprising a capacitor 72, inductor 74 and capacitor 5. The antenna of claim 4, Wherein said variable capacitor
73. The voltage to the cathode of varactor diode D3 may be has a capacitance value Which is electronically variable.
supplied through a resistor 64 (100 k ohms) and capacitor 6. The antenna of claim 5 further comprising an ampli?er
74. The anode of the varactor is directly coupled to Winding for amplifying the output signal and for supplying the output
28 and ultimately to ground through transformer 33 and signal to the radio receiver, and a variable voltage source
Winding 27. As the voltage from ampli?er 52 varies in connected to said variable capacitor for tuning the antenna
response to the tuning controls 121 and 122, the capacitance to selected operating frequencies.
of the varactor varies and tunes the resonant circuit. Using 25 7. An antenna for a radio receiver comprising a ferrite rod;
this regulated tuning method shoWn, the voltage input into spaced pick-up coils Wound about the ferrite rod, signals
the device can vary from, e.g., 6.5 to 12 volts, and the being induced in the pick-up coils by received magnetic
antenna tuning Will remain exactly Where the user preset the ?elds in the ferrite rod, the signals being of opposite phase;
frequency. and a combiner connected to the coils for additively com
The control board may contain feW components used bining the opposite phase signals induced in the coils to
principally to supply voltage and user interface to the device. provide an output signal corresponding to the sum of said
As noted above, the central board may be connected to the opposite phase signals.
antenna board via jacks J1 and J2 and cable 50. Diode 101 8. The antenna of claim 7, Wherein said combiner com
may be a standard diode that protects the unit from reverse prises a transformer.
polarity voltage at jack J3. SWitch S1 is a simple on/off 35 9. The antenna of claim 8, Wherein the opposite phase
sWitch. Capacitors 110, 112, and 113 and torroid transformer signals from the coils are connected to opposite ends of a
III are DC line ?lters, mainly used When the device is primary Winding of said transformer, and said output signal
plugged into an eXternal DC source via jack J3. Normally, is supplied from a secondary Winding of said transformer.
DC poWer may be supplied by a battery 114. Variable 10. The antenna of claim 9 further comprising a variable
resisters 121 and 122, Which may be 100 k ohms and 5 k capacitor connected to the pick-up coils, the pick-up coils,
ohms potentiometers, serve as coarse and ?ne tuning con the transformer and the variable capacitor forming a reso
trols for the varactor as described above. R101 is a preset nant circuit, and the variable capacitor tuning the resonant
resistor to keep the voltage on the varactor pre-tuned to a circuit to selected frequencies.
speci?c frequency. Transformer 131, Which receives the 11. The antenna of claim 10, Wherein a ?rst one of said
output signal from Q3, and capacitor 132 are used for the 45 pick-up coils has one end grounded, another end connected
termination transformer and impedance matching. This is through the primary Winding of said transformer to a second
the ?nal stage of the device before a clean, ampli?ed signal one of said pick-up coils, and said second pick-up coil is
is delivered to the receiver via jack J4. connected said variable capacitor.
12. The antenna of claim 11, Wherein said variable capaci
A preferred embodiment of the invention as described
tor is an electronically variable varactor diode. electronically
herein comprises a ferrite core antenna, characteriZed by tWo
variable varactor diode.
spaced Windings. The tWo Windings are connected through
13. The antenna of claim 12 further comprising an ampli
a combiner, for example, the primary Winding of a trans
former Which additionally combines the signals from the ?er for receiving the output signal from said transformer and
for providing an ampli?ed output signal; and a variable
tWo coils to produce an increased output signal level.
55 voltage source connected to the variable capacitor for tuning
Preferably, the antenna is resonant at the frequency of
the antenna.
interest, and the resonant frequency of the antenna is set by
a tuning capacitor.