YAGI-UDA & HELICAL ANTENNA

TECHNICAL SEMINAR REPORT

Submitted by

CH SANDEEP KUMAR
(15891A04C7)

DEPARTMENT OF
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

VIGNAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Affiliated to JNTU Hyderabad,
Programmes Accredited by NBA
Vignan Hills, Deshmukhi Vill., Pochampally Mdl., Yadadri Bhuvanagiri Dist.
A.Y. 2018-19
 DEPARTMENT OF
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

VIGNAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Affiliated to JNTU Hyderabad,
Programmes Accredited by NBA
Vignan Hills, Deshmukhi Vill., Pochampally Mdl., Yadadri Bhuvanagiri Dist.
A.Y. 2018-19

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Ch Sandeep kumar, 15891A04C7. submitted the Technical

Seminar Report titled “ YAGI-UDA & HELICAL ANTENNA” in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of Bachelor of

Technology in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering

to Vignan Institute of Technology and Science.

Dr.P.A.Harsha Vardhini Dr.N.Dinesh Kumar

Tech. Sem Coordinator Head of the Department
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satisfaction and euphoria that accompany the successful completion of the task
would be great but incomplete without the mention of the people who made it possible with
their constant guidance and encouragement crowns all the efforts with the success.

I would like to express our heart-felt gratitude to our parents without whom, I would
not have been privileged to achieve and fulfill our dreams.
I profoundly thank Dr. N. DINESH KUMAR, Head of the Department of Electronics
and Communication Engineering who has been the source of inspiration and laid a great
support to our work.

I would like to thank technical seminar coordinatorDr P. A. HARSHA VARDHINI,

Professor, Department of ECE for her technical guidance, constant encouragement and
support in completing the seminar and report.

CH SANDEEP KUMAR
15891A04C7
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 ABSTRACT
YAGI-UDA AND HELICAL ANTENNA
YAGI-UDA ANTENNA:
A three-element compact Yagi Uda antenna is proposed that maintains a high absolute
gain and low VSWR over a 10% fractional bandwidth with an element spacing of 0.053λ.
The proposed Yagi Uda antenna uses a director and reflector to create a dual resonance and
approach super directivity at each resonant frequency. By adjusting the reflector and
director's resonant frequency, the gain and bandwidth of the antenna can be maximized. The
driven element has one folded arm to increase the impedance of the antenna. The reflector
and director elements are bowtie de signs to increase the bandwidth.

HELICAL ANTENNA:
The helix is a fundamental form of antenna of which loops and straight wires are limiting
cases. when the helix is small compared to the wavelength, radiation is maximum normal to
the helix axis. depending on the helix geometry, the radiation may be in elliptical,circularly
polarized.
 CONTENTS
 Origins
 Description
 Theory of operation
 Analysis
 Design
 History
 References
ORIGINS
The antenna was invented in 1926 by Shintaro Uda of Tohoku Imperial University,
Japan,with a lesser role played by his colleague Hidetsugu Yagi.

However the "Yagi" name has become more familiar with the name of Uda often omitted.
This appears to have been due to Yagi filing a patent on the idea in Japan without Uda's name
in it, and later transferring the patent to the Marconi Company in the UK.

Yagi antennas were first widely used during World War II in radar systems by the Japanese,
Germans, British and US. After the war they saw extensive development as home television
antennas.

Description

Yagi–Uda antenna with a reflector (left), half-wave driven element (centre), and director
(right). Exact spacings and element lengths vary somewhat according to specific designs.

The Yagi–Uda antenna consists of a number of parallel thin rod elements in a line, usually
half-wave long, typically supported on a perpendicular crossbar or "boom" along their
centers. There is a single driven element driven in the center (consisting of two rods each
connected to one side of the transmission line), and a variable number of parasitic elements, a
single reflector on one side and optionally one or more directors on the other side.The
parasitic elements are not electrically connected to the transmitter or receiver, and serve as
passive radiators, reradiating the radio waves to modify the radiation pattern. Typical
spacings between elements vary from about 1⁄10 to ¼ of a wavelength, depending on the
specific design. The directors are slightly shorter than the driven element, while the
reflector(s) are slightly longer. The radiation pattern is unidirectional, with the main lobe
along the axis perpendicular to the elements in the plane of the elements, off the end with the
directors.

Conveniently, the dipole parasitic elements have a node (point of zero RF voltage) at their
centre, so they can be attached to a conductive metal support at that point without need of
insulation, without disturbing their electrical operation. They are usually bolted or welded to
the antenna's central support boom. The driven element is fed at centre so its two halves must
be insulated where the boom supports them.

The gain increases with the number of parasitic elements used.Only one reflector is used
since the improvement of gain with additional reflectors is negligible, but Yagis have been
built with up to 30–40 directors.

The bandwidth of the antenna is the frequency range between the frequencies at which the
gain drops 3 dB (one-half the power) below its maximum. The Yagi–Uda array in its basic
form has very narrow bandwidth, 2–3 percent of the centre frequency. There is a tradeoff
between gain and bandwidth, with the bandwidth narrowing as more elements are used. For
applications that require wider bandwidths, such as terrestrial television, Yagi–Uda antennas
commonly feature trigonal reflectors, and larger diameter conductors, in order to cover the
relevant portions of the VHF and UHF bands.[9] Wider bandwidth can also be achieved by
the use of "traps", as described below.

Yagi–Uda antennas used for amateur radio are sometimes designed to operate on multiple
bands. These elaborate designs create electrical breaks along each element (both sides) at
which point a parallel LC (inductor and capacitor) circuit is inserted. This so-called trap has
the effect of truncating the element at the higher frequency band, making it approximately a
half wavelength in length. At the lower frequency, the entire element (including the
remaining inductance due to the trap) is close to half-wave resonance, implementing a
different Yagi–Uda antenna. Using a second set of traps, a "triband" antenna can be resonant
at three different bands. Given the associated costs of erecting an antenna and rotor system
above a tower, the combination of antennas for three amateur bands in one unit is a very
practical solution. The use of traps is not without disadvantages, however, as they reduce the
bandwidth of the antenna on the individual bands and reduce the antenna's electrical
efficiency and subject the antenna to additional mechanical considerations (wind loading,
water and insect ingress).

Theory of operation

A portable Yagi–Uda antenna for use at 144 MHz (2 m), with segments of yellow tape-
measure ribbon for the arms of the driven and parasitic elements.

Consider a Yagi–Uda consisting of a reflector, driven element and a single director as shown
here. The driven element is typically a ½ λ dipole or folded dipole and is the only member of
the structure that is directly excited (electrically connected to the feedline). All the other
elements are considered parasitic. That is, they reradiate power which they receive from the
driven element (they also interact with each other).

One way of thinking about the operation of such an antenna is to consider a parasitic element
to be a normal dipole element of finite diameter fed at its centre, with a short circuit across its
feed point. As is well known in transmission line theory, a short circuit reflects all of the
incident power 180 degrees out of phase. So one could as well model the operation of the
parasitic element as the superposition of a dipole element receiving power and sending it
down a transmission line to a matched load, and a transmitter sending the same amount of
power up the transmission line back toward the antenna element. If the transmitted voltage
wave were 180 degrees out of phase with the received wave at that point, the superposition of
the two voltage waves would give zero voltage, equivalent to shorting out the dipole at the
feedpoint (making it a solid element, as it is). Thus a half-wave parasitic element radiates a
wave 180° out of phase with the incident wave.

The fact that the parasitic element involved is not exactly resonant but is somewhat shorter
(or longer) than ½ λ modifies the phase of the element's current with respect to its excitation
from the driven element. The so-called reflector element, being longer than ½ λ , has an
inductive reactance which means the phase of its current lags the phase of the open-circuit
voltage that would be induced by the received field. The director element, on the other hand,
being shorter than ½ λ , has a capacitive reactance with the voltage phase lagging that of the
current.

The elements are given the correct lengths and spacings so that the radio waves radiated by
the driven element and those re-radiated by the parasitic elements all arrive at the front of the
antenna in-phase, so they superpose and add, increasing signal strength in the forward
direction. In other words, the crest of the forward wave from the reflector element reaches the
driven element just as the crest of the wave is emitted from that element. These waves reach
the first director element just as the crest of the wave is emitted from that element, and so on.
The waves in the reverse direction interfere destructively, cancelling out, so the signal
strength radiated in the reverse direction is small. Thus the antenna radiates a unidirectional
beam of radio waves from the front (director end) of the antenna.
Analysis
While the above qualitative explanation is useful for understanding how parasitic elements
can enhance the driven elements' radiation in one direction at the expense of the other, the
assumptions used are quite inaccurate. Since the so-called reflector, the longer parasitic
element, has a current whose phase lags that of the driven element, one would expect the
directivity to be in the direction of the reflector, opposite of the actual directional pattern of
the Yagi–Uda antenna. In fact, that would be the case were we to construct a phased array
with rather closely spaced elements all driven by voltages in phase, as we posited.

However these elements are not driven as such but receive their energy from the field created
by the driven element, so we will find almost the opposite to be true. For now, consider that
the parasitic element is also of length λ/2. Again looking at the parasitic element as a dipole
which has been shorted at the feedpoint, we can see that if the parasitic element were to
respond to the driven element with an open-circuit feedpoint voltage in phase with that
applied to the driven element (which we'll assume for now) then the reflected wave from the
short circuit would induce a current 180° out of phase with the current in the driven element.
This would tend to cancel the radiation of the driven element. However, due to the reactance
caused by the length difference, the phase lag of the current in the reflector, added to this
180° lag, results in a phase advance, and vice versa for the director. Thus the directivity of
the array indeed is in the direction towards the director.
How the antenna works. The radio waves from each element are emitted with a phase delay,
so that the individual waves emitted in the forward direction (up) are in phase, while the
waves in the reverse direction are out of phase. Therefore, the forward waves add together,
(constructive interference) enhancing the power in that direction, while the backward waves
partially cancel each other (destructive interference), thereby reducing the power emitted in
that direction. At other angles, the power emitted is intermediate between the two extremes.

Illustration of forward gain of a two element Yagi–Uda array using only a driven element
(left) and a director (right). The wave (green) from the driven element excites a current in the
passive director which reradiates a wave (blue) having a particular phase shift (see
explanation in text). The addition of these waves (bottom) is increased in the forward
direction, but leads to cancellation in the reverse direction.
Mutual impedance between parallel dipoles not staggered as a function of spacing.

Curves Re and Im are the resistive and reactive parts of the mutual impedance. Note that at
zero spacing we obtain the self-impedance of a half-wave dipole, 73 + j43 Ω.

One must take into account an additional phase delay due to the finite distance between the
elements which further delays the phase of the currents in both the directors and reflector(s).
The case of a Yagi–Uda array using just a driven element and a director is illustrated in the
accompanying diagram taking all of these effects into account. The wave generated by the
driven element (green) propagates in both the forward and reverse directions (as well as other
directions, not shown). The director receives that wave slightly delayed in time (amounting to
a phase delay of about 35° which will be important for the reverse direction calculations
later), and generating a current that would be out of phase with the driven element (thus an
additional 180° phase shift), but which is further advanced in phase (by about 70°) due to the
director's shorter length. In the forward direction the net effect is a wave emitted by the
director (blue) which is about 110° (180°–70°) retarded with respect to that from the driven
element (green), in this particular design. These waves combine to produce the net forward
wave (bottom, right) with an amplitude slightly larger than the individual waves.

In the reverse direction, on the other hand, the additional delay of the wave from the director
(blue) due to the spacing between the two elements (about 35° of phase delay traversed
twice) causes it to be about 180° (110° + 2 × 35°) out of phase with the wave from the driven
element (green). The net effect of these two waves, when added (bottom, left), is almost
complete cancellation. The combination of the director's position and shorter length has thus
obtained a unidirectional rather than the bidirectional response of the driven (half-wave
dipole) element alone.

A full analysis of such a system requires computing the mutual impedances between the
dipole elements[11] which implicitly takes into account the propagation delay due to the finite
spacing between elements. We model element number j as having a feedpoint at the centre
with a voltage Vj and a current Ij flowing into it. Just considering two such elements we can
write the voltage at each feedpoint in terms of the currents using the mutual impedances Zij:
Z11 and Z22 are simply the ordinary driving point impedances of a dipole, thus 73 + j43 ohms
for a half-wave element (or purely resistive for one slightly shorter, as is usually desired for
the driven element). Due to the differences in the elements' lengths Z11 and Z22 have a
substantially different reactive component. Due to reciprocity we know that Z21 = Z12. Now
the difficult computation is in determining that mutual impedance Z21 which requires a
numerical solution. This has been computed for two exact half-wave dipole elements at
various spacings in the accompanying graph.

The solution of the system then is as follows. Let the driven element be designated 1 so
that V1 and I1 are the voltage and current supplied by the transmitter. The parasitic element is
designated 2, and since it is shorted at its "feedpoint" we can write that V2 = 0. Using the
above relationships, then, we can solve for I2 in terms of I1:

This is the current induced in the parasitic element due to the current I1 in the driven element.
We can also solve for the voltage V1 at the feedpoint of the driven element using the earlier
equation:

where we have substituted Z12 = Z21. The ratio of voltage to current at this point is the driving
point impedance Zdp of the 2-element Yagi:

With only the driven element present the driving point impedance would have simply
been Z11, but has now been modified by the presence of the parasitic element. And now
knowing the phase (and amplitude) of I2 in relation to I1 as computed above allows us to
determine the radiation pattern (gain as a function of direction) due to the currents flowing in
these two elements. Solution of such an antenna with more than two elements proceeds along
the same lines, setting each Vj = 0 for all but the driven element, and solving for the currents
in each element (and the voltage V1 at the feedpoint).[12]
Two Yagi–Uda antennas on a single mast. The top one includes a corner reflector and three
stacked Yagis fed in phase in order to increase gain in the horizontal direction (by cancelling
power radiated toward the ground or sky). The lower antenna is oriented for vertical
polarization, with a much lower resonant frequency.

Design
There are no simple formulas for designing Yagi–Uda antennas due to the complex
relationships between physical parameters such as

 element length and spacing

 element diameter
 performance characteristics: gain and input impedance

However using the above kinds of iterative analysis one can calculate the performance of a
given a set of parameters and adjust them to optimize the gain (perhaps subject to some
constraints). Since with an n element Yagi–Uda antenna, there are 2n − 1 parameters to adjust
(the element lengths and relative spacings). This iterative analysis method is not a
straightforward. The mutual impedances plotted above only apply to λ/2 length elements, so
these might need to be recomputed to get good accuracy.

The current distribution along a real antenna element is only approximately given by the
usual assumption of a classical standing wave, requiring a solution of Hallen's integral
equation taking into account the other conductors. Such a complete exact analysis
considering all of the interactions mentioned is rather overwhelming, and approximations are
inevitable on the path to finding a usable antenna.

Consequently, these antennas are often empirical designs using an element of trial and error,
often starting with an existing design modified according to one's hunch. The result might be
checked by direct measurement or by computer simulation.

A well-known reference employed in the latter approach is a report published by the National
Bureau of Standards (NBS) (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST))
that provides six basic designs derived from measurements conducted at 400 MHz and
procedures for adapting these designs to other frequencies. These designs, and those derived
from them, are sometimes referred to as "NBS yagis."

By adjusting the distance between the adjacent directors it is possible to reduce the back lobe
of the radiation pattern.

History

A Nakajima J1N1-S night fighter with quadruple Yagi radar transceiver antennas

The Yagi–Uda antenna was invented in 1926 by Shintaro Uda of Tohoku Imperial
University, Sendai, Japan, with the collaboration of Hidetsugu Yagi, also of Tohoku Imperial
University. Yagi and Uda published their first report on the wave projector directional
antenna. Yagi demonstrated a proof of concept, but the engineering problems proved to be
more onerous than conventional systems.

Yagi published the first English-language reference on the antenna in a 1928 survey article on
short wave research in Japan and it came to be associated with his name. However, Yagi
always acknowledged Uda's principal contribution to the design, and the proper name for the
antenna is, as above, the Yagi–Uda antenna (or array).

Yagi arrays of the German FuG 220 radar on the nose of a late-World War
II Messerschmitt 110 fighter aircraft.

The Yagi was first widely used during World War II for airborne radar sets, because of its
simplicity and directionality. Despite being invented in Japan, many Japanese radar engineers
were unaware of the design until very late in the war, partly due to rivalry between the Army
and Navy. The Japanese military authorities first became aware of this technology after
the Battle of Singapore when they captured the notes of a British radar technician that
mentioned "yagi antenna". Japanese intelligence officers did not even recognise that Yagi
was a Japanese name in this context. When questioned, the technician said it was an antenna
named after a Japanese professor.
A horizontally polarized array can be seen under the leading edge of Grumman TBF
Avenger carrier-based US Navy aircraft and the Consolidated PBY Catalina long range patrol
seaplane. Vertically polarized arrays can be seen on the cheeks of the P-61 and on the nose
cones of many WWII aircraft, notably the Lichtenstein radar-equipped examples of the
German Junkers Ju 88R-1 fighter-bomber, and the British Bristol Beaufighter night-fighter
and Short Sunderland flying-boat. Indeed, the latter had so many antenna elements arranged
on its back – in addition to its formidable turreted defensive armament in the nose and tail,
and atop the hull – it was nicknamed the fliegendes Stachelschwein, or "Flying Porcupine" by
German airmen. The experimental Morgenstern German AI VHF-band radar antenna of
1943–44 used a "double-Yagi" structure from its 90° angled pairs of Yagi antennas formed
from six discrete dipole elements, making it possible to fair the array within a conical,
rubber-covered plywood radome on an aircraft's nose, with the extreme tips of
the Morgenstern's antenna elements protruding from the radome's surface, with an NJG 4 Ju
88G-6 of the wing's staff flight using it late in the war for its Lichtenstein SN-2 AI radar.

After World War 2, the advent of television broadcasting motivated extensive development
of the Yagi–Uda antenna as a rooftop television reception antenna in
the VHF and UHF bands, and to a lesser extent an FM radio antenna. Until the development
of the log-periodic antenna in the 1960s, it was the only type of antenna that could give
adequate fringe reception in areas far from the television transmitter. A major drawback was
the Yagi's inherently narrow bandwidth. Very complicated Yagi designs were developed to
give adequate gain over the broad television bands. TV antennas are still a major application
of the Yagi antenna.

The Yagi–Uda antenna was named an IEEE milestone in 1995.

Reference
 Ham-Shack.com : Aiming Somewhere Out There
 Yagi Antenna Design, Peter P. Viezbicke, National Bureau of Standard Technical
Note 688, December 1976
 S. Uda, "High angle radiation of short electric waves". Proceedings of the IRE, vol.
15, pp. 377-385, May 1927.
 S. Uda, "Radiotelegraphy and radiotelephony on half-meter waves". Proceedings of
the IRE, vol. 18, pp. 1047-1063, June 1930.
 H .Yagi, Beam transmission of ultra-shortwaves , Proceedings of the IRE, vol. 16,
pp. 715-740, June 1928. The URL is to a 1997 IEEE reprint of the classic article. See
also Beam Transmission Of Ultra Short Waves: An Introduction To The Classic
Paper By H. Yagi by D.M. Pozar, in Proceedings of the IEEE, Volume 85, Issue 11,
Nov. 1997 Page(s):1857 - 1863.
 "Scanning the Past: A History of Electrical Engineering from the Past". Proceedings
of the IEEE Vol. 81, No. 6, 1993.
 Shozo Usami and Gentei Sato, "Directive Short Wave Antenna, 1924". IEEE
Milestones, IEEE History Center, IEEE, 2005

Contents
 Normal-mode helical
 Mobile HF helicals
 Helical broadcasting antennas
 Axial-mode helical
 References
Normal-mode helical

Normal-mode helical UHF TV broadcasting antenna 1954

If the circumference of the helix is significantly less than a wavelength and its pitch (axial
distance between successive turns) is significantly less than a quarter wavelength, the antenna
is called a normal-mode helix. The antenna acts similar to a monopole antenna, with
an omnidirectional radiation pattern, radiating equal power in all directions perpendicular to
the antenna's axis. However, because of the inductance added by the helical shape, the
antenna acts like a inductively loaded monopole; at its resonant frequency it is shorter than a
quarter-wavelength long. Therefore, normal-mode helices can be used as electrically
short monopoles, an alternative to center- or base-loaded whip antennas, in applications
where a full sized quarter-wave monopole would be too big. As with other electrically short
antennas, the gain, and thus the communication range, of the helix will be less than that of a
full sized antenna. Their compact size makes "helicals" useful as antennas for mobile and
portable communications equipment on the HF, VHF, and UHF bands.
A common form of normal-mode helical antenna is the "rubber ducky antenna" used in
portable radios.

The loading provided by the helix allows the antenna to be physically shorter than its
electrical length of a quarter-wavelength. This means that for example a 1/4 wave antenna at
27MHz is 2.7 m (108”) long and is physicality quite unsuitable for mobile applications. The
reduced size of a helical provides the same radiation pattern in a much more compact
physical size with only a slight reduction in signal performance. An effect of using a helical
conductor rather than a straight one is that the matching impedance is changed from the
nominal 50 ohms to between 25 and 35 ohms base impedance. This does not seem to be
adverse to operation or matching with a normal 50 ohm transmission line, provided the
connecting feed is the electrical equivalent of a 1/2 wavelength at the frequency of operation.

Mobile HF helicals
Another example of the type as used in mobile communications is "spaced constant turn" in
which one or more different linear windings are wound on a single former and spaced so as to
provide an efficient balance between capacitance and inductance for the radiating element at
a particular resonant frequency. Many examples of this type have been used extensively for
27 MHz CB radio with a wide variety of designs originating in the US and Australia in the
late 1960s. To date many millions of these ‘helical antennas’ have been mass-produced for
mainly mobile vehicle use and reached peak production during the CB Radio boom-times
during the 1970s to late 1980s and used worldwide. Multi-frequency versions with manual
plug-in taps have become the mainstay for multi-band single-sideband modulation (SSB) HF
communications with frequency coverage over the whole HF spectrum from 1mHz to
30 MHz with from 2 to 6 dedicated frequency tap points tuned at dedicated and allocated
frequencies in the land mobile, marine and aircraft bands. Recently these antennas have been
superseded by electronicly tuned antenna matching devices. Most examples were wound
with copper wire using a fiberglass rod as a former. The usually flexible or ridged radiator is
then covered with a PVC or polyolefin heat-shrink tubing which provides a resilient and
rugged waterproof covering for the finished mobile antenna. The fibreglass rod was then
usually glued and/or crimped to a brass fitting and screw mounted onto an insulated base
affixed to a vehicle roof, guard or bull-bar mount. This mounting provided a ground plane or
reflector (provided by the vehicle) for an effective vertical radiation pattern.

These popular designs are still in common use as of 2018 and the ‘constant turn’ design
originating in Australia have been universally adapted as standard FM receiving antennas for
many factory produced motor vehicles as well as the existing basic style of aftermarket HF
and VHF mobile helical. Another common use for broadside helixes is in the "rubber ducky
antenna" found on most portable VHF and UHF radios using a steel or copper conductor as
the radiating element and usually terminated to a BNC / TNC style or screw on connector for
quick removal.

Helical broadcasting antennas

Specialized enlarged normal-mode helical antennas are used for Base Station transmitters for
FM radio and television broadcasting stations on the VHF and UHF bands.

Axial-mode helical
End fire helical satellite communications antenna, Scott Air Force base, Illinois, USA.
Satellite communication systems often use circularly polarized radio waves, because the
satellite antenna may be oriented at any angle in space without affecting the transmission, and
axial mode (end fire) helical antennas are often used as the ground antenna.

Helical antenna for WLANcommunication, working frequency app. 2.4 GHz

When the helix circumference is near the wavelength of operation, the antenna operates
in axial mode. This is a nonresonant traveling wave mode, in which instead of standing
waves, the waves of current and voltage travel in one direction, up the helix. Instead of
radiating linearly polarized waves normal to the antenna's axis, it radiates a beam of radio
waves with circular polarisation along the axis, off the ends of the antenna. The main lobes of
the radiation pattern are along the axis of the helix, off both ends. Since in a directional
antenna only radiation in one direction is wanted, the other end of the helix is terminated in a
flat metal sheet or screen reflector to reflect the waves forward.

In radio transmission, circular polarisation is often used where the relative orientation of the
transmitting and receiving antennas cannot be easily controlled, such as in animal
tracking and spacecraft communications, or where the polarisation of the signal may change,
so end-fire helical antennas are frequently used for these applications. Since large helices are
difficult to build and unwieldy to steer and aim, the design is commonly employed only at
higher frequencies, ranging from VHF up to microwave.

The helix of the antenna can twist in two possible directions: right-handed or left-handed, the
former having the same form as that of a common corkscrew. The 4-helix array in the first
illustration uses left-handed helices, while all other illustrations show right-handed helices. In
an axial-mode helical antenna the direction of twist of the helix determines the polarisation of
the emitted wave. Two mutually incompatible conventions are in use for describing waves
with circular polarisation, so the relationship between the handedness (left or right) of a
helical antenna, and the type of circularly-polarized radiation it emits is often described in
ways that appear to be ambiguous. However, Kraus (the inventor of the helical antenna)
states "The left-handed helix responds to left-circular polarisation, and the right handed helix
to right-circular polarisation (IEEE definition)" . The IEEE defines the sense of polarisation
as "the sense of polarization, or handedness ... is called right handed (left handed) if the
direction of rotation is clockwise (anti-clockwise) for an observer looking in the direction of
propagation" Thus a right-handed helix radiates a wave which is right-handed, the electric
field vector rotating clockwise looking in the direction of propagation.

Helical antennas can receive signals with any type of linear polarisation, such as horizontal or
vertical polarisation, but when receiving circularly polarized signals the handedness of the
receiving antenna must be the same as the transmitting antenna; left-hand polarized antennas
suffer a severe loss of gain when receiving right-circularly-polarized signals, and vice versa.
The dimensions of the helix are determined by the wavelength λ of the radio waves used,
which depends on the frequency. In order to operate in axial-mode, the circumference should
be equal to the wavelength. The pitch angle should be 13 degrees, which is a pitch distance
(distance between each turn) of 0.23 times the circumference, which means the spacing
between the coils should be approximately one-quarter of the wavelength (λ/4). The number
of turns in the helix determines how directional the antenna is: more turns improves the gain
in the direction of its axis at both ends (or at 1 end when a ground plate is used), at a cost of
gain in the other directions. When C<λ it operates more in normal mode where the gain
direction is a donut shape to the sides instead of out the ends.

Terminal impedance in axial mode ranges between 100 and 200 ohms, approximately

where C is the circumference of the helix, and λ is the wavelength. Impedance matching
(when C=λ) to standard 50 or 75 ohm coaxial cable is often done by a quarter
wave stripline section acting as an impedance transformer between the helix and the ground
plate.

The maximum directive gain is approximately:

where N is the number of turns and S is the spacing between turns. Most designs use C=λ

and S=0.23*C, so the gain is typically G=0.8*N. In decibels, the gain is .

The half-power beamwidth is:

The beamwidth between nulls is:

The gain of the helical antenna strongly depends on the reflector.The above classical
formulas assume that the reflector has the form of a circular resonator (a circular plate with a
rim) and the pitch angle is optimal for this type of reflector. Nevertheless, these formulas
overestimate the gain for several dB.The optimal pitch that maximizes the gain for a flat
ground plane is in the range from 3° to 10° and it depends on the wire radius and antenna
length.
References

 Proceedings of the I.R.E., March 1949, P.263

 Kraus, J.D. Antennas 2nd Ed, MacGraw Hill, 1988
 IEEE Std 149-1979 (R2008), "IEEE Standard Test Procedures for Antennas".
Reaffirmed December 10, 2008, Approved December 15, 1977, IEEE-SA Standards
Board. Approved October 9, 2003, American National Standards Institute. ISBN 0-
471-08032-2. doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.1979.120310, sec. 11.1, p. 61
 Tomasi, Wayne (2004). Electronic Communication Systems - Fundamentals Through
Advanced. Jurong, Singapore: Pearson Education SE Asia Ltd. ISBN 981-247-093-
X.
 Djordjević, A.R., Zajić, A.G., and Ilić, M.M., “Enhancing the gain of helical
antennas by shaping the ground conductor”, IEEE Antennas and Wireless
Propagation Letters, Vol. 5, 2006, pp. 138-140 Djordjević, A.R., Zajić, A.G., Ilić,
M.M., and Stueber, G.L., “Optimization of helical antennas“, IEEE Antennas and
Propagation Magazine, vol. 48, no. 6, December 2006, pp. 107-115