Antennas Demystified

Scott Honaker
N7WLO
 Importance of Antennas
 Antennas are as important as the radio
 A $5000 TV with rabbit ears will have a lousy
picture
 Antennas are cheaper than amplifiers
 Antennas are reciprocal – they hear as well as
they talk
 Choosing Antennas
 Frequency – Dictates size
 Mounting location – Base or mobile
 Omni or directional – Coverage or gain
 Polarization – Horizontal, vertical, circular
 Resonant or non-resonant – Tuner required?
 Power available
 Feedline length and type
 Cost
 dBi vs. dBd
 dBi - Gain vs. Isotropic Resonator
 Isotropic Resonator is infinitely small antenna with
no feedline in free space radiating equally well in
all directions (spherical pattern)
 dBd - Gain vs. Reference Dipole
 Gain referenced to a “real” dipole antenna with a
donut-like pattern
 dBd = dBi + 2.15 dB
 Gain/Loss Calculations
 ERP (Effective Radiated Power) is the real
number to consider
 Gain uses a Log-10 scale
 3dB = 2-fold improvement
 6dB = 4-fold improvement
 10dB = 10-fold improvement
 20dB = 100-fold improvement
• ERP=Power x (Gain - Feedline Loss)
 Radiation Patterns
 Visual representation of gain,
beamwidth, F/B ratio and F/S
ratio in one plane
 E-Plane is cross-
section that includes
driven element
 H-Plane is
perpendicular to
driven element
Dipole Patterns
 Yagi Patterns
E-Plane H-Plane
 Polarization
 SSB/CW is generally horizontal
 FM is generally vertical
 Satellites can be circular - RHCP, LHCP
 Polarization loss can be significant at
VHF/UHF and microwaves
 Bounced signals can change polarization
 Verticals are more susceptible to QRM
 Antenna Design Considerations
 Gain, SWR, Bandwidth, Front/Back ratio are
related and optimum values are not achieved
simultaneously for each
 Does antenna have power going in desired
direction? Gain/Beamwidth
 SWR Power Losses
 All power fed into the line, minus the line
attenuation, is absorbed into the load (antenna)
regardless of the mismatch at the antenna
terminals
 Line attenuation (loss) is the key factor in
determining losses due to mismatched
antennas (high SWR)
 SWR Loss Examples
 SWR losses are added to SWR SWR Losses
line attenuation for total loss
1.0:1 0dB
values
 100’ RG-58 @ 20 meters, 1.5:1 0dB
50’ RG-8x @ 2 meters, 2.0:1 0.2dB or 5%
50’ Belden 9913 @ 70cm
have nearly identical 3.0:1 0.6dB or 13%
attenuation of 1.5dB
5.0:1 1.5dB or 29%
10:1 3.0dB or 50%
 Loading
 Inductive loads – base, center, top
 Screwdriver antennas (adjustable loading)
 Hamstick-style antennas
 Hustler center-loaded
whips
 Rubber HT antennas
 Capacitance “Hats”
 Texas Bugcatcher
 Cushcraft MA5B
 Ground Plane Verticals
 ¼ wave is omnidirectional with unity (0dBd) gain
when provided a proper ground plane
 ½ wave is unity gain with no ground plane and
3dBd with ground plane
 5/8 wave is 3.5dBd gain with nice omni pattern
and low radiation angle
 Longer antennas have more omni patterns with
asymmetric ground planes (vehicles) and lower
radiation angles (see below)

¼ wave ½ wave 5/8 wave

 Ground Planes
 “Perfect” ground plane from 120 evenly
spaced radials at least ½ wave in length
 Wire mesh or wire from #12 to #28, above or a
few inches below the ground work fine
 Elevated feeds (1/8λ or more above ground)
can use four ¼-wave radials
 Vehicles provide poor ground planes at HF but
elevating the feedpoint reduces loss
 Imperfect Ground Planes
Number of radials 16 24 36 60 90 120
Length of radials in 0.1 0.125 0.15 0.2 0.2 0.4
wavelengths 5
Total wire installed in 1.6 3 5.4 12 22. 48
wavelengths 5
Power loss relative to 3 2 1.5 1 0.5 n/a
“perfect” ground
plane
Feedpoint impedance 52 46 43 40 37 35
in ohms
 Other Verticals
 Discone
 Wide usable frequency range
 SWR ~2:1 for fundamental
through second harmonic
 SWR ~3:1 for remainder of
coverage
 Omnidirectional – Unity gain
 Inverted-L
 2-3 dBd gain with vertical and
horizontal components
 Requires ground plane
 Balanced Feed Designs
 Dipole
 Simple and effective
 Vertical or horizontal polarization

 Loop
 Full wave has 3dBd gain
 Circular, Quad (square) or Delta (triangular) design

 E and H-plane patterns vary with height above

ground
 Dipole Types
 Sloper
 Has 3dB to 6dB of directivity
toward slope
 Inverted-V
 Single high mount, internal
angle should be >90 degrees
 Bent
 Good attic antenna
 Keep center section straight
 Remainder of element can bend
or curve to fit
 Dipole Types – Cont.
 Folded
 High impedance needs
open wire feed
 Same overall size as ½ wave
dipole but contains 1 wave of wire for nearly 3 dBd gain
 Caged
 Standard dipole with each leg made up of multiple wires
around spacers forming a wire tube
 Larger effective element diameter increases bandwidth
 Extended Double Zepp
 Two 0.64λ elements provide 3dBd gain
 Multiband Dipoles
 Multiple
 Multiple dipoles/loops at a single feed
 Trap
 Traps are tuned circuits used to generate multiple
resonances on a single wire
 Traps cause loss and decrease bandwidth

 G5RV
 Non-resonant – tuner required
 Radiation patterns vary with frequency
 Off-Center Fed Dipoles
 Feedline attached 1/3 the length from the end
 Same ½ wave overall size
 Resonates at even harmonics, so 1 antenna can be
used on 80m, 40m and 20m
 6th harmonic (15m) has too high impedance

 Asymmetric impedance may cause current “in the

shack”
 Requires 4:1 or 6:1 current-type balun to match
 Other Multibanders
 Random wire
 Can be any length of wire
 Requires tuner

 Works against earth ground

 Windom
 “T” shape single wire feed attached 14% off center
 Works against earth ground

 “RF in the shack” is a potential problem

 Wire Arrays
 Half Square
 Vertical polarization with up to 3.8dBd gain
 Bi-square
 Horizontal polarization with ~3.5dBd gain
 Bobtail Curtain
 Vertical polarization with bidirectional 5.8 dBd gain
 Sterba Curtain
 Horizontal polarization from multiple phased loops
 Lazy “H” – Four element broadside array
 Greater than 6dBd gain possible
 Yagis
 ½ wave dipole driven element
 Reflectors are 5% larger
 Directors are 5% smaller
 Number of elements and boom length
determine gain
 SWR, bandwidth, gain, boom length and
front/back ratios all have to be considered
 Typical Yagi Gains
 10m yagi with Elements Gain dBi Gain dBd
SWR <2:1 and 3 7.5 5.5
Front/Back
4 8.5 6.5
>20dB
 Numbers are 5 10 8
rounded to
6 11.5 9.5
nearest 0.5 dB
7 12.5 10.5
8 13.5 11.5
 Hybrid Yagis
 Quad
 1λ loop driven element, reflector and directors
 Up to 3dBd gain over standard yagi
 Wider bandwidth than standard yagi

 Quagi
 Loop reflector and driven element
 Simpler to feed and match at UHF

 Looper
 Entirely loop (generally circular) elements
 Log Periodic
 Constant characteristics over
wide band (2:1)
 Several varieties but hams
generally use dipole array
(LPDA)
 All elements are driven
 Gain similar to 3 element
yagi – 7dBi, 5dBd
 Size similar to 3 element
yagi at lowest frequency
 Reflecting Antennas
 Corner reflector
 Practical size at 222 MHz and up
 Simple to construct, broadbanded, gains 10-15dBd

 Pyramidal Horn
 Practical at 902 MHz and up
 Sides of horn are fed for up to 15 dBi, 13dBd gain

 Parabolic dish
 Gain is a function of reflector diameter, surface
accuracy and illumination
 Parabolic Dish Gain
MHz 2’ 4’ 6’ 10’ 20’ 30’
420 6.0dBi 12.0 15.5 20.0 26.0 29.5
902 12.5 18.5 22.0 26.5 32.5 36.0
1215 15.0 21.0 24.5 29.0 35.0 38.5
2300 20.5 26.5 30.0 34.5 40.5 44.0
3300 24.0 30.0 33.5 37.5 41.5 47.5
5650 28.5 34.5 38.0 42.5 46.0 52.0
10Ghz 33.5 39.5 43.0 47.5 51.0 57.0