Chapter 3

Wire Antennas

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Chapter Outlines
3.1. Introduction of wire antennas
3.2. General step to calculate far-field parameters of wire antennas
3.3. Dipole Antennas (Infinitesimal Dipole, Half-wavelength dipole,
Finite length dipole, Quarter-wave Mono pole antennas)
3.4. Folded Dipole Antennas
3.5. Turnstile Antenna
3.6. Loop Antennas
3.7. Helical antenna
3.8. Yagi-Uda antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 3.1. Introduction of wire antennas
▪ Wire antenna is topology of antenna wires possible with a conducting ground plane.

▪ Are the oldest, simplest, cheapest, and the most versatile for many applications.

▪ It has attractive features such as simple construction, sufficiently broadband characteristics

for voice communication, small dimensions at high frequencies.

▪ The linear wire antennas are widely used across the UHF, VHF and lower-microwave
bands.

▪ Their arrays (dipoles) are commonly used as base-station antennas in land-mobile systems.

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 3.2. General step to calculate far-field parameters of wire antennas

Step 1. Calculate, assume, approximately estimate the current distribution

Step 2. Calculate magnetic vector potential (A)

Step 3. Calculate magnetic field (H)

Step 4. Calculate electric field (E) from magnetic field calculated at step 3

Step 5. Calculate radiated pattern

Step 6. Calculate directivity, radiation resistance, BW, etc

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Configuration

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Computing Fields Radiated by Electric and Magnetic
Sources.

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Computing Fields Radiated by Electric and Magnetic
Sources

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Magnetic Vector Potential

▪ The magnetic flux B is always solenoidal

▪ A is arbitrary vector (magnetic vector potential)

▪ The Maxwell’s curl equation

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Magnetic Vector Potential

▪ (3.3) reduces to

▪ From the vector identity

▪ Hence, (3.5) becomes

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Magnetic Vector Potential

▪ Taking the curl of both sides of (3-2) and using the vector identity

▪ For a homogeneous medium

▪ Equating Maxwell’s equation

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Magnetic Vector Potential

▪ Substituting (3-7a) into (3-11) reduces it to

▪ Define the divergence of A, which is independent of its curl (Lorentz

condition)

▪ Substituting (3-13) into (3-12) leads to

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
▪ In addition, (3-7a) reduces to

▪ Once A is known, HA can be found from (3-2a) and EA from (3-15).

▪ EA can just as easily be found from Maxwell’s equation (3-10) with J = 0.
▪ To find A in terms of the current density J, it will be a solution to the
inhomogeneous Helmholtz equation of (3-14).

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS FOR ELECTRIC (J)

1. Specify J (electric density sources)

2. Find A (due to J) using (3-27), which is a solution of the inhomogeneous
vector wave equation of (3-14)

3. Find HA using (3-2a) and EA using (3-15). EA can also be found using
Maxwell’s equation of (3-10) with J = 0.

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Approach

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 SOLUTION OF THE INHOMOGENEOUS VECTOR
POTENTIAL WAVE EQUATION

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 SOLUTION OF THE INHOMOGENEOUS VECTOR
POTENTIAL WAVE EQUATION
▪ Let current density is directed along the z-axis (Jz)

▪ In the presence of the source (Jz ≠ 0) and k = 0, the wave equation of (3-31)
reduces to

▪ The Poisson’s equation is that relating the scalar electric potential 𝜙 to the
electric charge density 𝜌.

whose solution is

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 SOLUTION OF THE INHOMOGENEOUS VECTOR
POTENTIAL WAVE EQUATION
▪ Since (3-39) is similar in form to (3-40),

▪ The time-varying solution of (3-31) can be obtained by multiplying the static

solution of (3-42) by e−jkr

▪ In general

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 SOLUTION OF THE INHOMOGENEOUS VECTOR
POTENTIAL WAVE EQUATION
▪ If the source is removed from the origin and placed at a position represented
by the primed coordinates

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 SOLUTION OF THE INHOMOGENEOUS VECTOR
POTENTIAL WAVE EQUATION
▪ If J and M represent linear densities (m−1), (3-49) reduce to surface integrals,

▪ For electric current Ie (3-51) reduce to line integrals of the form

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 FAR-FIELD RADIATION

▪ The fields radiated by antennas of finite dimensions are spherical waves.

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 DUALITY THEOREM

▪ Dual Equations for Electric (J) and Magnetic (M) Current Sources

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 3.3. Dipole Antennas

A. Infinitesimal Dipole
B. Half-wavelength dipole
C. Finite length dipole
D. Quarter-wave Mono pole antennas

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 A. Infinitesimal Dipole
❖ Is a very small (l ≪ λ ) wire antenna.

❖ Usually its overall length must be l .

❖ It is not practical but can be used to analyze more complex geometries.

❖ Assume the infinitesimal dipole is positioned symmetrically at the origin and

oriented along the Z-axis. The current is assumed to be constant.

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Infinitesimal Dipole

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Uniform Current –Magnetic Vector Potential

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 E and H Fields from Magnetic Vector Potential

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Uniform Current – E and H Fields

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Uniform Current – Near and Far Fields

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Uniform Current - Radiation Pattern

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Small Dipole Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Small Dipole – Radiation Resistance

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Input Impedance of Transmission Line

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 FINITE LENGTH DIPOLE

▪ The current distribution is given by

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Current distribution various lengths

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 FINITE LENGTH DIPOLE

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Radiation Pattern of Dipole Antenna for Different Lengths

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Dipole Antenna Radiation Pattern for l = 1.25λ

Directivity is maximum for a thin dipole of length l = 1.25λ

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Dipole Antenna Resistance and Directivity

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 B. Half-Wave Dipole

▪A classical and widely used thin wire antenna with l= 0.5λ.

▪Is one of the most widely used antennas at frequencies above 2MHz.

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 B. Half-Wave Dipole

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 HALF-WAVELENGTH DIPOLE

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Dipole Antenna Radiation Pattern for l = 0.5λ

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Flat Dipole Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Flat Dipole Antenna Pattern and Directivity

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Broadband Dipole Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Monopole Antenna on Infinite Ground Plane

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Monopole Antenna on Infinite Ground Plane

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Effect of Varying Radius of Monopole on
Infinite Ground Plane on Impedance Plot

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Effect of Varying Radius of Monopole on Infinite
Ground Plane on Radiation Pattern

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Effect of Varying Finite Ground Plane Size on Input
Impedance of Monopole

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Grounded or Monopole Antenna- Example
▪ AM Transmitter tower ( The tower is the antenna).
▪ The impedance of a vertical ground-plane antenna is exactly one-half the
impedance of the dipole, or approximately 36.5 Ω. Since there is no such
thing as 36.5 coaxial cable, 50-Ω coaxial is commonly used to feed the
power to the antenna. However, this would yield acceptable SWR.

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Broadband Monopole Antenna Configurations

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Folded Dipole Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 3.4. Folded Dipole Antennas
▪ The folded dipole is the same length as a standard dipole, but is
made with two parallel conductors, joined at both ends and
separated by a distance that is short compared with the length of
the antenna.

▪The folded dipole differs in two ways from the ordinary half-wave dipole:

1. It has a wider bandwidth, that is, the range of frequencies within which the impedance
remains approximately resistive is larger than for the single conductor dipole. For this reason, it
is often used – alone or with other elements – for television and FM broadcast receiving
antennas.

2. The impedance of this popular antenna is 300Ω, approximately four times the feed point
impedance of an ordinary dipole

LECTURE ON WIRE ANTENNAS BY:- Dr. Kinde A.

 Dipole Antenna Applications

LECTURE ON WIRE ANTENNAS BY:- Dr. Kinde A.

 3.5. Turnstile Antenna
❑Is formed by placing two dipoles at right angles to each other, 90o out of phase.
❑The radiation pattern is the sum of the radiation patterns from the two dipoles, which
produces a nearly omnidirectional pattern
❑Turnstile antenna gains of 10 or more dB are common.
 3.6. Loop Antennas
They are widely used in communication links up to the microwave bands (up to 3 GHz).

Loop antennas feature simplicity, low cost and versatility. They may have various shapes:
circular, triangular, square, elliptical, etc.

Loop antennas are usually classified as electrically small and electrically large (C ~λ ). Here,
C denotes the loop's circumference. Electrically small loops of a single turn have very small
radiation resistance (comparable to their loss resistance).

Their radiation resistance can be substantially improved by adding more turns.

Multi-turn loops have better radiation resistance although their efficiency is still poor. That is
why they are used mostly as receiving antennas where losses are not so important.
 Loop Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Loop Antenna Radiation Pattern

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Loop Antenna Radiation Resistance

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Radiation Resistance vs Loop Circumference

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Directivity of Circular Loop Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 3.6. Loop Antenna
❑ The radiation characteristics of a small loop antenna can be additionally
improved by inserting a ferromagnetic core.

❑ Radio-receivers of AM broadcast are usually equipped with ferrite-loop

antennas. Such antennas are used in pagers, too.

❑ Two types of loop antennas are:

❑ Air-wound loops

❑ Ferrite-core loopsticks
 Radiation Resistance of Loop Antenna on Ferrite

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 3.6. Loop Antenna
▪The air-wound coil is an older design.

▪This antenna is bidirectional, with each greatest sensitivity in the plane of the
loop, as shown by the arrow.

▪This would be a multiturn coil for the AM broadcast band; only one turn is
shown for clarity

❖The ferrite “loopstick” antenna is found in practically every AM broadcast

receiver (except those in automobiles).

❖The directionality is still in the plane of the individual coil turns, but this is
broadside to the axis of the ferrite core.
 Helical Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Modes in Helical Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Field Distribution in Different Modes

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Axial Mode Helical Antenna: Ground Plane

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Pattern of Single Turn Helical Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Helical antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Normal Mode Helical Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Design of Normal Mode Helical Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Normal Mode Helical Antenna (NMHA) on Small Circular
Ground Plane

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 NMHA Design on Small Circular Ground Plane

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Effect of Ground Plane Size on NMHA

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Effect of Wire Radius on NMHA

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Effect of Wire Radius on Bandwidth of NMHA

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Fabricated NMHA on Small Ground Plane and its Results

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 3.7. Helical Antenna
Example: A helical antenna with eight turns is to be constructed for a frequency of 1.2 GHz.
a. Calculate the optimum diameter and spacing for the antenna and find the total length of the
antenna.
b. Calculate the antenna gain in dBi
c. Calculate the beamwidth

Solution:
a. λ = 0.25 m
D = λ/π = 0.08 m
S = λ/4 = 0.0625 m
The total length is just the number of turns times the turn spacing:
L = NS = 8 x 0.0625 = 0.5 m
b. G = 30.3 = 14.8 dBi
c. θ = 36.6o

LECTURE ON WIRE ANTENNAS BY:- Dr. Kinde A.

 3.8. Yagi-Uda antenna

The driven element (feeder)

➢ Is the very heart of the antenna. It determines the polarization and center frequency.
➢ For a dipole, the recommended length is about 0.471λ to ensuring a good input impedance
to a 50 ohm feed line

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Linear Dipole with a Reflector

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Yagi-Uda Antenna with 3-Elements

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 General Yagi-Uda Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Typical Values of Yagi-Uda Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Directivity vs No. of Elements

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 3-Element Printed Yagi-Uda Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Results of 3-Element Yagi-Uda Antenna

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
 Radiation Pattern at 1.3 GHz

WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.
WIRE ANTENNAS
BY:- Dr. Kinde A.