VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Lecture Notes
ANTENNA THEORY

Lecturer: Dr. Tran Thi Thuy Quynh

CONTENTS

1 Chapter 1: Introduction

2 Chapter 2: Radiation Fundamentals

3 Chapter 3: Antenna Pattern and Parameters

4 Chapter 4: Types of Antennas

5 Chapter 5: Antenna Array

6 Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

1 Introduction
2 Antenna range
3 Radiation patterns
4 Gain measurements
5 Directivity measurements
6 Radiation efficiency
7 Impedence measurements
8 Current measurements
9 Polarization measurements

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
1 Introduction

Figure: Near and Far Field Regions

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
Far Field Measurement Method

Rotate antenna under test (AUT) in azimuth and elevation

coordinates.
Record Far field data (amplitude and/or phase pattern) on plotter or
computer as the AUT rotates.
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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

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Drawbacks of the method

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Special Techniques
Indoor measurements.
Far-field pattern prediction from near-field measurements.
Scale model measurements.
Automated commercial equipment specifically designed for antenna
measurement and ulilizing computer assisted techniques.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Improved instrumentation and measuring techniques

Tapered anechoic chamber.
Compact and Extrapolation range.
Near field probing techniques.
Improved polarization techniques. and swept-frequency
measurements.
Indirect measurements of antenna characteristics, and automated test
systems.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Antenna parameter measurement

Radiation (Amplitude and Phase) pattern.
Gain.
Directivity.
Efficiency.
Impedance.
Current distribution.
Polarization.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
2 Antenna Range
Reflection range: Design the range so that reflections from the ground
combine constructively with direct rays, referred to as the ”quiet zone”
(the region of the AUT).

Free-space ranges: are designed to suppress the contributions from the

surrounding environment, includes: Elevated ranges, Slant ranges,
Anechoic chambers, Compact ranges, Near-field ranges
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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Elevated Ranges

Designed to operate mostly over smooth terrains.

The antennas are mounted on towers or roofs of adjacent buildings.
Used to test physically large antennas.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
Slant Ranges

The AUT is mounted at a fixed height on a nonconducting tower

while the source antenna is placed near the ground.
Slant ranges are more compact (require less land) than Elevated
ranges.
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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
Anechoic Chambers
The test is performed inside a chamber having walls that are covered
with RF absorbers.
To provide a controlles environment, an all-weather capability, and
security; and to minimize electromagnetic interference.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
Types of Chambers
Rectangular chamber: designed to simulate free-space coditions and maximum the volume of the quiet zone; Reflected
energy is minimined by the use of high quality RF absorbers but signigicant specular reflections can occur, especially at
larges of incidence.
Tapered chamber: designed at the lower end of the microwave band; the source is usually placed near the apex so that
the reflections from the side walls, which contribute to the illuminating fields in the region of the AUT (phase differrence
between the direct and reflected rays are very small)

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Compact Ranges
Microwave Antenna Measurement requires AUT be illuminated by a
uniform plane wave.
A Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) generates nearly planar
wavefronts in a very short distance (typical 10-20 meters) compared
to the 2D 2 /λ (minimum) distance.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
Compact Antenna Test Range

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Compact Antenna Test Range

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
Near Field/Far Field Methods
The dimensions of a conventional test range can be reduced by
making measurements in the near-field.
Then using analytical methods to transform the measured near-field
data to compute the far-field radiation characteristics.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Planar system: suited for high gain antennas, especially planar phased arrays; it requires the least amount of
computations and no movement of the antenna.
Cylindrical system: requires more computations than planar, but for many antennas its measuring, positioning, and
probe equipment are the least expensive.
Spherical system: requires the most expensive computation, and antenna and probe position equipment, which can
becom quite significant for large antenna systems; is best used for measurements of low gain and omnidirectional
antennas.

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3 Radiation patterns
Instruments: source antenna and transmitting system, receiving
system, positioning system, recording system, data-processing system

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

4 Gain Measurements:
Absolute-Gain measurements.
Gain-transfer (Gain-Comparision) measurements.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Absolute-Gain measurements
These methods are used to calibrate antennas than can then be used
as standards for gain measurement.
It requires no a prior knwledge of the gains of the antennas.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Two-Antenna Method

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
Three-Antenna Method

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

Gain-transfer measurements
These methods must be used in conjuction with standard gain
antennas (the resonant λ/2 dipole - a gain of about 2.1dB; or the
pyramidal horn antenna with gain ranging from 12-25dB) to
determine the absolute gain of AUT.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

5 Directivity Measurements
The simplest, but least accurate method requires:
Measure the two principal E- and H-plane patterns of the AUT.
Determine the HPBW (in degrees) of the E- and H-plane patterns.
Caculate

(The method is more accurate when the pattern exhibits only one
major lobe, and its minor lobes are negligible.)

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6 Radiation Efficient

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7 Impedance measurements
Self impedance

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Mutual impedance

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8 Current measurements

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements

9 Polarization measurements
The main beam determines antenna polarization having the types of
Linearly, Circularly (CW or CCW, RH or LH), and Elliptical.
Side lobes can differ in polarizations.

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Chapter 6: Antenna Measurements
The rate of rotation of the linear probe antenna is much greater than the rotation
rate of the positioner over which the AUT is mounted and rotated to allow,
ideally, the probe antenna to measure the polarization responce of the AUT at
that direction before moving to another angle.

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The end of chapter 6