Unit - III

Long Wire Antenna

Types of long wire Antenna
There are two types of long wire antenna

1. Resonant Long wire antenna

2. Non-Resonant Long wire antenna [Travelling wave antenna]

Basics of Resonant Long wire Antenna

• When the length of the antenna is integral multiple of half wavelength, the antenna is said to be resonant

long wire antenna

• In this case both incident and refracted waves are present on the long wire, resulting in standing waves
on the wire
• Two waves in opposite direction results in a bidirectional radiation pattern
Structure of Resonant Long wire Antenna

Radiation of Resonant Long wire Antenna

Resonant wire Antenna as a harmonic Antenna
Design parameters of Resonant wire Antenna

  Length of Resonant wire antenna

 Electric field

 Maximum angle radiation

 Radiation resistance
Travelling wave Antenna or Non resonant Long wire Antenna
Basics of Travelling wave Antenna
 
• It is long wire antenna at two end terminated by matched load
• So there is less reflection. Ideally, no standing pattern
• Length may or may not be . It’s somewhat less than H
• `Due to termination by matched load, unidirectional radiation pattern
• Angle of lobes vary with frequency
• Characteristics impedance is formed to be 600Ω

Radiation of Travelling wave Antenna

Designing of Travelling wave Antenna
 
 Length is slightly less than
 Load resistance

where, h is height of wire from ground

d is diameter of wire

Advantages Disadvantages
 Very simple  Major lobe is lifted inclined at an angle and

 Economical controlled by its length

 Effective in the mF(300K-3m) and HF(3-30m)  Poor directivity

 Properties can enhance when used in array  Power density in minor lobes
V-Antenna
Basics of V-Antenna
• In the previous session, I have discussed long wire antenna. The greatest advantage of it is its simple structure
but for some applications, it is not practical due to following reasons:
 Low directivity
 High side lobes
 Angle of beam is based on length
• Some of this characteristics can be recovered by V antenna

Structure of V-Antenna
Types of V-Antenna
• Resonant V
• Non Resonant V
• Inverted V

Radiation of V-Antenna
Increasing Directivity of V-Antenna
Inverted V-Antenna
Disadvantages of V-Antenna

• The radiation pattern will have many considerable minor lobes

• These lobes results in horizontally polarized waves transmitted in some directions. Thus inverted V

antenna will receive horizontally polarized waves from these directions

Rhombic Antenna
Rhombic antenna
 
• The rhombic antenna is based on the principle of travelling wave radiator. By application of return
conductor two wires are pulled apart at one point so that diamond or rhombus shape is formed as
shown in Fig
• If two wires(i.e. two sides of rhombus) are pulled apart to such an extent that the four lobes BCEG are
combined together, then additional gain is achieved. Also there is no problem in proper termination to
avoid reflections. This is the basis of rhombic antenna
• The tilt angle is approximately equal to 90° minus the angle of major lobe. Since a change of length
from 4λ to 8λ the angle of major lobe changes from 17° to 24° only, indicates that this antenna
operates over a wide band of frequency
• A rhombus is an equilateral parallelogram, generally with two opposite acute angles. A rhombic
antenna is a very efficient antenna of broad frequency capabilities.
• It can be regarded as two inverted V antennas connected in series or two V connected end to end
forming obtuse angles
• It is also called as diamond antenna due to its shape or travelling wave antenna as it is based on the
principle of travelling wave radiator
• It is ideally suitable for HF transmission and reception specially in commercial point to point
communication. Because of its simplicity it is widely used and hence it is necessary to understand its
performance and limitations
• The maximum gain from a rhombic antenna is along the direction of main axis
Design of Rhombic antenna
 
The designer of a Rhombic antenna has the following antenna has the following three independent parameters

at his disposal

1. The Tilt angle (

2. The leg length(L)

3. The height above ground(h)

The performance of rhombic antenna is a function of above three factors inter-connected in somewhat

complicated manner. Popularly, there are two types of rhombic design

According to Bruce, Beck and Lowry(1935) the relative field Intensity E in the vertical plane coincident with
the
rhombic main axis is given by the formula
𝟐
𝟐𝝅 𝒉 𝝅𝑳
 
𝑬=
[ (
𝟐 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽 𝐬𝐢𝐧
λ
𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜷 )][ (
𝐬𝐢𝐧
λ ) ]
{𝟏 − 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜷 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 } −−−
  −→(1)
( 𝟏 − 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜷 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 )

 
Where,
= Angle and Elevation w.r.t ground or selected wave angle or angle of radiation
= Half Apex angle or Tilt angle (in degrees) =
h = height of Rhombic above ground (in λ)
L = Length of each leg (in λ)
 
The assumptions made in the formula
i. Constant current throughout L
ii. No mutual coupling
iii. Perfectly conducting plane ground below the horizontal rhombic
Since Rhombic has high directivity and so it is necessary to design a rhombic antenna for specific direction of
transmission. For specific direction and frequency there is optimum combination of h, L, for maximum
output design and alignment design. From equation (1), we have

𝐸=𝑘
  sin ( 2 𝜋 h′ sin 𝛽 ) −−− −→(2 𝑏) 
  

  2cos 𝜃 [ sin ( 2 𝜋 h′ sin 𝛽 ) ]

𝑤h𝑒𝑟𝑒 , 𝑘 ′ = −− − − →(2 𝑒)
( 1 − cos 𝛽 sin 𝜃 )

 
 
Maximum output or max. E - design - For this eqn (2a) or (2b) is differentiated w.r.t. and equate it to zero
for getting maximum
 

(or)

(or)

Where, n = 1,2,3….
Hence for lowest practical height n = 1 and we have
 

(or)

(or)
 
Lastly introducing the condition,

(or)

(or)

Into the eq.(4), we have

∴
  sin𝜃=cos 𝛽
FOLDED DIPOLE
Antenna
 
Folded Dipole Antenna
• It is a variation of conventional half wave dipole in which two half

wave dipoles one continuous and the other split at the centre have

been folded and joined together in parallel at the ends

• The split dipole is fed at the centre by a transmission line

• The length of the dipole is and separation between two dipoles is ‘a’
which is very smaller than & L
• It has high input impedance than half wave dipole and has high
bandwidth than half wave dipole
Operation of Folded Dipole Antenna

It operates in two different modes

i. Transmission line mode

ii. Antenna mode

• Since current directions are opposite, they cancel each other and the antenna does not radiate in

transmission line mode

• In antenna mode, current is divided and the current in both the diploe are in same directions and it radiates

• If the radii of the two conductors are equal currents flow in both the directions
•  It has been found that input impedance od a 2 conductors folded dipole is 450Ω and that
of 4 conductors folded dipole is 225Ω
Equation for Input Impedance
 
The voltage in each wire(dipole) is and by nodal analysis,

= currents flowing at the terminals of dipole 1 and dipole 2

= self and mutual impedance

If eqn(1) becomes

If spacing between two dipole (a) is small then

 
  w.k.t  
In General,

Similarly for a folded dipole of 3 waves

Yagi-uda Antenna
Yagi-Uda Antenna
 
• Yagi-uda or simply Yagi (as generally but less correctly called ) antennas or
Yagis are the most high gain antennas and are known after the names of
Professor S.Uda and H.Yagi
• It consists of a driven element, a reflector and one or more directions i.e.
Yagi-Uda antenna in an array of a driven element(or active element where the
power from is fed or which feeds received power to the ) and one or more
parasitic elements(i.e. passive elements which are not connected directly to
the transmission line but electrically coupled)
• The driven elements is a resonant half-wave dipole usually of metallic rod at
the frequency of operation. The parasitic elements of continuous metallic rods
are arranged parallel to the driven element and at the same line of sight level
 
General Characteristics of Yagi-uda Antenna
 
1. If three elements array(i.e. one reflector, one driven and one director) is used, then such type of Yagi-uda
is generally referred to as beam antenna
2. It has unidirectional beam of moderate directivity with light weight, low cost and simplicity in feed
system design
3. With spacing of 0.1 to 0.15 , a frequency bandwidth of the order of 2% is obtained
4. It provides gain of the order of 8db or front to back ratio of about 20db
5. It is also known as super directive or super gain antenna(as sometime called) due to its high gain and
beam-width per unit area of the array. An antenna or array which provides directive gain, appreciable
greater than the obtainable from uniform distribution is known ass super directive or super gain antenna
6. If greater directivity is desired further elements may be used. For example, five or six elements are used
with ease, and arrays up to 40 can be constructed
7. It is essentially a fixed frequency device i.e. frequency sensitive and a bandwidth is sufficient for
television reception
Voltage and Current Relations
 

…………………………………………………………………

 
, , ………. = Voltage applied to antenna no. 1,2,3,….n
, , ………. = Current flowing in antenna no. 1,2,3,….n
, , ………. = Self impedance applied to antenna no. 1,2,3,….n
, , ………. = Mutual impedance between antennas of subscript i.e. means mutual impedance
between antenna no 1 and n
 
• If the individual antennas are not excited, then corresponding applied voltages e.g. , , . etc. are zero.
Thus in an antenna system involving parasitic antennas, the voltages are zero in case of transmitting
while in receiving case these applied voltage are the voltages induced in each parasitic antenna by the
electromagnetic waves

V  1=I 1 Z 11 +I 2 Z 12 ;V 2 =I1 Z21 +I 2 Z 22   ; being parasitic

  (Or) ;

  X 12

|
−1
∠ tan
( R 12 + 𝑗 X 12 ) R 12
|
I 2 =− I 1
( R 2 2+ 𝑗 X 22 ) ∠ tan − 1 X22
R 22
 2
  Z 12 Z 12
V 1=I 1 Z 11 − I 1
Z22 ( )
. Z 12=I 1 Z 1 1 −
Z22 ( )
 𝐈 = 𝐕𝟏
(or) 𝟏
𝐙
𝟐

𝐙 𝟏𝟏 − 𝟏𝟐
𝐙 𝟐𝟐
  Z V1 Z 12 − V 1 ( Z 12 )
and
I 2 =− I 1 . 12 =−
Z22 Z
2
.
( )
Z22
=
Z 11 Z22 − Z 122

𝐕𝟏
( Z11− 12
Z 22 )
 𝐈 𝟐 =
𝐙 𝟏𝟏 𝐙 𝟐𝟐
( 𝐙 𝟏𝟐 −
𝐙𝟏𝟐 )
The input impedances of driven and parasitic elements are given by

  𝐕𝟏 𝐙 𝟏𝟐𝟐   𝐕𝟐 𝐙 𝟏𝟏 𝐙 𝟐𝟐
𝐙𝟏= =𝐙 𝟏 𝟏 − and 𝐙𝟐= =𝐙 𝟏 𝟐 −
𝐈𝟏 𝐙 𝟐𝟐 𝐈𝟐 𝐙 𝟏𝟐
Log periodic Antenna
Log Periodic Antenna

 
• A log periodic antenna is an antenna having a structural
geometry such that its impedance and radiation
characteristics repeats periodically as the logarithm of
frequency
• Usually log periodic antennas are considered as frequency
independent antennas
• To be frequency independent the antenna should expand or
 
contact in proportion to the wavelength or if the antenna • It consists of parallel dipole

structure is not mechanically adjustable, the size of the • ‘’ – angle bounds length of dipole

radiating region should be proportional to • Scale factor

Analysis of log periodic array can be done by considering 3 regions of the antenna

INACTIVE
  REGION:
• Antenna elements are short with resonant length L<
• Currents in the elements are small and hence small radiation in backward direction(towards left)
ACTIVE REGION:
• Length of the antenna elements is approximately
• Strong radiation towards backward direction(left) and little radiation in forward direction(right)
INACTIVE REFLECTIVE REGION:
• Length of the antenna elements is greater than
• Any small amount of incident wave from the active region is reflected back towards backward direction (left)
DESIGN
• Log periodic array (LPA) consists of a sequence of side by side parallel linear dipole arrays
• Let us consider a section of Log Periodic Array and determine its parameter

ln   l n+1
 
α
tan =
2
=
ln & tan α = 2 = l n+1
2 Rn 2 Rn 2 R n+1 2 Rn +1

  ln l n+1
=
2 R n 2 R n+1

  ln l n +1
=
R n Rn +1
  w.k.t, ..therefore is also equal to

Rn ln
τ  = =
R n +1 l n+1
 
For large values of

• is small

• The design requires small number of elements and are separated by large distance to each other

For small values of

• is small

• The design requires large number of elements and are separated by small distance to each other
HELICAL Antenna
Helical Antenna

• If a conductor is wound in helical shape and is fed

with respect to the ground is helical antenna
• It has broadband characteristics
• It can provide circular polarization
 
From the diagram,
 
[I] = retarded current
 
‘r’ = fixed distance from helix to the distant point
λ = wavelength
Far field of a short dipole is,

(S = L = Length of the
Axial Ratio (AR)
dipole)

 
If AR = 0 horizontal polarization
AR = vertical polarization
AR = 1 circular polarization
 

 
If This antenna is a loop antenna
If This antenna is a monopole antenna
If 0 < This antenna is a helical antenna

Condition for pitch angle to get circular polarization

Modes of operation of Helical Antenna
Normal Mode Helix

 
• Radiation characteristics is normal to the axis of helix
• Radiation pattern (major lobe) will be perpendicular to
the axis of helix. The minor lobes will be along the axis
of the helix
• If the dimensions of the helix is less than then it operates • For field of a loop is,
in normal mode   120 𝜋 2 [ 𝐼 ] sin 𝜃 𝐴
𝐸∅ =
• A helical antenna may be considered of having a number 𝑟 λ2
2
of small loops and short dipoles in series. So the far field  𝐴= 𝜋 𝐷 ( 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑜𝑓 𝑡h𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑝)
4
radiated by a helix in normal mode can be described in
terms of and components of the dipole and loop
respectively
Axial Mode Helix

 • Radiation pattern(Major lobes) will be along the axis of the helix and minor lobes will be perpendicular to
the axis of the helix
• If the dimensions of helix is in between to then it operates in axial mode

 • The important parameters are,

𝑆 1
 
𝑤h𝑒𝑟𝑒 , 𝜑=2 𝜋 [ λ
( 1 − cos 𝜃 )+
2𝑁 ]
Spiral Antenna
Spiral Antenna

 
• It has two arms connected in spiral shape
• It is frequency independent antenna. Polarization radiation
pattern remains unchanged over a large frequency
• Ultra Wide Bandwidth(UWB) is achieved by using spiral
antenna
• Fractional Bandwidth is
Where, - Higher cut – off frequency
- Lower cut – off frequency
• Spiral antenna produces circular polarized waves
• Current distribution is 180° out of phase between the two
arms
 
Design,

w.k.t  
The equation of spiral antenna is

R – Radius distance to a point ‘P’

w.k.t
- Angle with respect to x - axis

- flare rate

- minimum radius

when,
 Loop
Antenna
Loop Antenna

• A single conductor in loop may be any shape

• One end of the wire is connected to the inner conductor of the transmission line and another end is
connected to the outer conductor of transmission line
• The loops are built using small dipole
Types of Loop Antenna
Small Loop Antenna

  • When the overall length of the loop is less than , then it is a small loop antenna
• For circular loop where N is the number of turns

Properties of Small Loop Antenna

• Nulls are perpendicular to the plane of loop

• It has less radiation resistance

• Less radiation efficiency

• End-fire radiation pattern

Large Loop Antenna

 • When the overall length of the loop is about then it is large loop antenna

Properties of Large Loop Antenna

• Radiates perpendicular to the plane of loop

• Relatively high radiation resistance and thereby high radiation efficiency

• Broad-side radiation pattern

Radiation Resistance of Loop Antenna
 
 

Total power radiated,

 
Radiation resistance,

on substituting in (1)

Where, N = Number of turns

Biconical Antenna
Biconical Antenna

• A Biconical antenna consists of two conical conductors which is driven by a potential exactly at the
vertex
• Biconical antenna are broadband antennas that could transmit and receive signals from 30MHz to 300
MHz
 Calculation of Radiation Fields
 
From Maxwell’s Equation

On expanding in spherical coordinates we have

  ‘E’ has only component and ‘H’ has only component ,

Cancelling on both sides,

From Maxwell’s equation,

On expanding in spherical coordinates

E’ has only component and ‘H’ has only component

Equating (4) & (5)

  
 
Cancelling on both sides,

Assume,
The equation becomes,
On substituting (6) in (3) we get,

On simplifying the solution to the above equation is,

 w.k.t,
 
The characteristics impedance is given by,

The equation of voltage and current when measured at

Where,
a distant point ‘r’ from the terminals of the cone is

given by,