Antenna

Antenna
An Antenna is an electric conductor or system of conductor which radiates and collects the Electromagnetic energy into space or from space. Antennas are classified as, Horizontal polarized and vertical polarized. Antennas are of two types. Omni-directional antennas and Directional antennas. Omni-directional antennas radiates equally in all directions. A "directional" antenna usually refers to one focusing a narrow beam in a single specific direction.

Parameters of Antenna
Critical parameters affecting an antenna's performance are
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Resonant frequency Antenna Gain Radiation pattern Impedance Efficiency Bandwidth Polarization

Resonant frequency
The "resonant frequency" and "electrical resonance" is related to the electrical length of an antenna. Electrical length=L*C/V
L= Length of the wire C= the speed of light in a vacuum V=speed of wave propagation in the wire

Typically an antenna is tuned for a specific frequency band.

Antenna Gain
Specifically, the Gain, Directive gain or Power gain of an antenna is defined as the ratio of the intensity (power per unit surface) radiated by the antenna in a given direction at an arbitrary distance divided by the intensity radiated at the same distance by a hypothetical isotropic antenna.

Radiation pattern
The radiation pattern of an antenna is the geometric pattern of the relative field strengths of the field emitted by the antenna. For the ideal isotropic antenna, this would be a sphere. For a typical dipole, this would be a toroid.

Impedance, Efficiency & band width Antenna should act as an impedance matching device, which should match the wave guide impedance to air impedance. Efficiency is the ratio of power actually radiated to the power put into the antenna terminals. The bandwidth of an antenna is the range of frequencies over which it is effective.

Polarization
The polarization of an antenna is the orientation of the electric field (E-plane) of the radio wave with respect to the Earth's surface and is determined by the physical structure of the antenna and by its orientation.

TYPES OF ANTENNA
There are many types. But a few types are given below.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Isotropic Radiator Dipole Antenna Yagi Antenna Random Wire Antenna Horn Parabolic Antenna Patch Antenna

Isotropic Radiator
The isotropic radiator is a purely theoretical antenna that radiates equally in all directions. The radiation pattern of an Isotropic Radiator is a Sphere. It is considered to be a point in space with no dimensions and no mass. This antenna cannot physically exist, but is useful as a theoretical model for comparison with all other antennas. Most antennas' gains are measured with reference to an isotropic radiator, and are rated in dBi.

Dipole Antenna
The dipole antenna is simply two wires pointed in opposite directions arranged either horizontally or vertically, with one end of each wire connected to the radio and the other end hanging free in space. Since this is the simplest practical antenna, it is also used as a reference model for other antennas; gain with respect to a dipole is labeled as dBd.

Yagi Antenna
The Yagi-Uda antenna is a directional variation of the dipole with parasitic elements added.

Random Wire & Horn Antenna

The random wire antenna is simply a very long (at least one quarter wavelength) wire with one end connected to the radio and the other in free space. The Horn is used where high gain is needed. Horns can be narrow band or wide band, depending on their shape.

Parabolic Antenna
The parabolic antenna consists of an active element at the focus of a parabolic reflector to reflect the waves into a plane wave. Like the horn it is used for high gain, microwave applications, such as satellite dishes.

Patch Antenna
The Patch antenna consists mainly of a square conductor mounted over a ground plane.

PARABOLIC ANTENNA
The parabolic antenna is used almost universally in point-to-point systems. The reflector converts the spherical wave radiating from the focus to the planar wave across the face of the paraboloid to concentrate the energy in a beam

Geometry of Parabola

FP+ PP1 = FQ+ QQ' = FR + RR' = K Where k= a constant. AF= focal length of the parabola. Aperture of the parabola: The ratio of the focal length to the mouth diameter (AF/CD)

Feed Mechanism
The feed mechanism in a parabolic antenna actually radiates the electromagnetic energy and, the therefore, is often called the primary antenna. An ideal feed mechanism should direct all the energy toward the parabolic reflector and have no shadow effect.
1. Center Feed: 2. Horn Feed: 3. Cassegrain Feed:

Center Feed and Horn Feed

Center Feed:- The primary antenna is placed at the focus. Energy radiated toward the reflector is reflected outward in a concentrated beam. Horn Feed:- With a horn-feed mechanism, the primary antenna is a small horn antenna rather than a simple diploes or dipole array. The horn is simply a flared piece of waveguide material that is placed at the focus

Cassegrain Feed
The rays emitted from the primary antenna are reflected from the Cassegrain subreflector and then illuminate the main parabolic reflector just as if they had originated at the focus. High gain can be achieved from this feed.

ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PARABOLIC ANTENNA Antenna Gain Beam Width VSWR Front to Back Ratio Cross polarization Discrimination.
Radiation Pattern.

Antenna Gain Microwave antenna gain is stated in dBi, indicating decibels relative to the gain of an isotropic antenna. The gain of a parabolic antenna depends upon its size, frequency and illumination. Maximum gain would occur if the illumination was uniform in phase and equal in amplitude across the aperture of the parabola.

Antenna Gain
The gain, G, is given by the equation : G = 4 A/ 2 or 2D2/ 2 Where A =Area of parabolic aperture 2 / 4 =Area of isotropic antenna P=Wavelength of operating frequency. Taking the efficiency (L) in to account the gain is given by the formula G = 4 A/ 2 x L To express the power gain in decibels, G [in dBi] = 10 logL X 4 A/ 2

Beam Width
The half power beamwidth is the beamwidth (the paraboloid will produce a beam of radiation), in degrees, at the -3 dB power point. The beamwidth, in degrees for a conventional parabolic antenna is given by the equation : = 70 P / D Where U = Half Power beam width in degrees D = the parabolic antenna diameter P = wave length in the same units. The value of U is approximately 1.1 degree at 6 GHz and 3.4 degree at 2 GHz for a 3.0 m diameter antenna.

TYPICAL ANTENNA GAINS AND BEAMWIDTH FOR VARIOUS SIZES AND FREQUENCIES
Ant Dia in Mtrs 1.2 1.8 2.5 3.0 3.7 4.6 2 GHz Gain In DBi 25.4 29.0 31.5 33.4 35.0 36.9 Beam width in degrees 8.8 5.7 4.3 3.5 2.9 2.3 Gain in dBi 35.0 38.8 41.2 43.0 44.8 46.2 6 GHz Beam width in degrees 2.8 1.9 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 11 GHz Gain in dBi 40.3 43.8 46.2 48.1 49.6 ----Beam Width in degrees 1.6 1.1 0.8 0.6 0.5 ----

Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) The antenna VSWR is the ratio of the amplitude of the voltage standing wave at the maximum to the amplitude at the minimum. VSWR is always equal to or greater than 1.0. Low VSWR antennas can achieve a VSWR of 1.04 to 1.06. VSWR+1 Return Loss [in db] = 20 log10 --------------VSWR 1

Front to Back Ratio (FBR)

The front-to-back ratio of an antenna is defined as the ratio of the power received from [or transmitted to] the main beam of the antenna to the power received from [or transmitted to] the back side.

This should be as high as possible. X P D is the ratio of the power transmitted/

received in the desired polarization to the power transmitted/ received in the undesired polarization

RADIATION PATTERNS
The radiation pattern is a graphical depiction of the relative field strength transmitted from or received by the antenna. Antenna radiation patterns are taken at one frequency, one polarization, and one plane cut.

WAVEGUIDES AND TRANSMISSION LINES

Study of transmission line for connecting the equipment output to the antenna is important, for its loss and for the degree of impedance matching attainable. There are two types of transmission lines namely co-axial transmission lines and wave guides.

Coaxial Transmission Lines

In bands up to 2 GHz, coaxial cable is usually used, and except for very short runs, it is usually of the air dielectric type. Typical sizes are: 2.2 c.m. diameter. Andrew type HJ 5-50, with attenuation of about 6dB per 100 meters at 2 GHz, and 4.1 c.m. diameter, Andrew type HJ 7-50 with an attenuation of about 3 dB per 100 meters.

WAVEGUIDE
Bands higher than 2 GHz require the use of waveguides almost exclusively and one of three basic types may be used rigid rectangular, rigid circular, and flexible elliptical. Advantages of waveguide: simpler to manufacture power handling ability of waveguides is improved 10 times higher than co-axial cable Power losses in wave guides are lower mechanical simplicity and a much higher operating frequency

Types of Wave Guides

Rectangular Guide:-Rigid rectangular waveguide is the most commonly used, with oxygen-free, high conductivity copper (OFHC), the recommended material.
Freq in GHz 4 GHz band 6 GHz band 7-8 GHz 11 GHz Loss 2.79 dB per 100 meters. 4.6 dB per 100 meters 8.8 dB per 8.8 dB per 100 meters. 11.5 dB per 100 meters 14.7 dB per 100 meters.

12-13 Ghz

Circular Guide
Circular waveguide has the lowest loss of all. it can support two orthogonal polarizations within the single guide. It is also capable of carrying more than one frequency band in the same guide. WC 281 circular, guide is normally used with horn reflector antennas to provide two polarizations at 6 GHz. It is practical only for straight runs. It requires complicated and extremely critical networks to make the transitions from rectangular to circular

Elliptical Guide
The distinctive features of elliptical guide is that it can be provided and installed as a single continuous run, with no intermediate flanges. It can provide good VSWR performance but relatively small deformations can introduce enough impedance mismatch.
Freq in GHz 4 GHz band 6 GHz band 7-8 GHz 11 GHz Loss 2.8 dB per 100 meters. 5.7 dB per 100 meters. 8.2 dB per 100 meters. 12.1 dB per 100meters. 14.7 dB per 100 meters.

12-13 Ghz