The 8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2014)

A New Low-Cost Active Rod Antenna for

Automotive Reception of All Terrestrial Audio
Broadcast Services
Leopold Reiter1, Alexander Böge1, Alexandru Negut1, Stefan Lindenmeier1
1
Institute of High Frequency Technology and Mobile Communication, University of the Bundeswehr Munich,
Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39, 85577 Neubiberg, Germany,
stefan.lindenmeier@unibw.de

Abstract—For the existing terrestrial broadcast services AM,

FM and DAB (VHF and L-Band), a active rod antenna with a
new low-cost design and a height of only 14 cm is presented. A
special high-impedance amplifier with low hardware effort based
on only one HEMT for FM- and DAB services enables high
performance of the ultra-short antenna structure which consists
of a capacitive coupled helical structure. In combination with
this amplifier, different helical structures are investigated.
Measured results show the high performance of the active
antenna, which yields a signal pick up and noise behavior
fulfilling typical automotive requirements.
Index Terms—capacitive coupled helical antenna, high-impe-
dance amplifier, AM, FM, DAB-VHF, DAB-L-Band.
I. INTRODUCTION
For 60 years cars have been equipped with rod antennas
with a typical length of 80 to 100 cm usually mounted on a
fender of a car for AM/FM reception. At the beginning of the
1970s they were replaced more and more by transistorized
active 40 cm long rod antennas mounted on top of a car near
the rear windshield. Since 1984, active AM/FM antennas have
been integrated inconspicuously in the windshield using
extremely thin wires in the laminated safety glass or in the
backlite using the heating structure as antenna element. In the
last years, 30 cm and 20 cm long antennas have come into use
in order to meet the nowadays styling requirements, to
minimize wind noise and to increase their robustness.
Helical structures can be used to overcome the difficulties
concerning effective height and antenna impedance, which
arise from decreasing the length of monopole antennas [2]. A
novel, only 14 cm long thin helical antenna featuring a
capacitive coupling for AM/FM reception is presented in [1].
In this paper we investigate the possibility to extend the
helical antenna for reception of DAB-VHF (174-240 MHz)
and DAB-L-Band (1452-1492 MHz) broadcast signals in
combination with an amplifier design using only one single
transistor for FM and DAB reception. The performance of this
high-impedance amplifier is presented here with respect to
performance, noise and intermodulation behavior.
II. THE NOVEL CAPACITIVE COUPLED HELICAL ANTENNA
A novel capacitive coupled helical antenna (CCHA) has
been designed with a length of only 14 cm. A copper helix is
wound on a flexible dielectric tube, so that the antenna can be
bent over more than 90 degree for example in a car-wash and
then returns to its initial position. The lower end of the helix is
isolated by a thin dielectric layer and is inserted in a cylindrical
metal socket, so it has no galvanic contact with it.
Alternatively this capacitive coupling can be realized by a
cylindrical pin within the helix as shown in Fig. 1.
A. Single resonant CCHA
In a first arrangement such a CCHA with a length of 14 cm
was designed for AM and FM reception only, which is now in
series production. In the AM range the CCHA behaves like a
simple monopole antenna with capacitive impedance, whereas
in the FM range the CCHA has series resonance character [1].
B. Double resonant CCHA
In [3] a further upgrade of the 14 cm long CCHA to receive
DAB-VHF and DAB-L-Band is shown. Therein the series
resonance is shifted to about 200 MHz and the cylindrical
socket or pin is tuned to have quarter wavelength in L-Band.
C. Triple resonant CCHA
In order to improve reception in the FM range a further
resonance is realized in the FM range in addition to the
resonances for DAB reception. The left-hand picture of Fig. 1
depicts the novel triple resonant capacitive coupled helical
antenna with a length of 14 cm on a ground plane. Careful
design and variable pitches of the copper helix structure lead to
a resonance in the FM and DAB-VHF-Band.
Such a CCHA structure produces sharp resonances, since
the inductive part has a high quality factor. Fig. 1 also shows
the measured antenna impedance of the novel CCHA in the
entire broadcast range. As can be seen, both series resonances
in the FM-Band at 98 MHz and in the DAB-VHF-Band at 200
MHz have approximately the same real part of 18 Ohm.

978-88-907018-4-9/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE 2981

 The 8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2014)
Fig. 1. Structure of the novel triple resonant CCHA (left) and measured
antenna impedance for FM (87-108 MHz), DAB-VHF (174-240 MHz)
and DAB-L-Band (1.45-1.49 GHz).
III. HIGH-IMPEDANCE ANTENNA AMPLIFIER DESIGN
In contrast to former amplifier in combination with a short
rod structure [3] the amplifier presented here needs only one
transistor for the FM- and DAB-services enabling a new low-
cost design. In Fig. 2 this ultra-compact amplifier design with a
high-impedance antenna amplifier for FM and DAB reception
with only one single transistor is shown. This architecture
allows an amplification with negative feedback tailored to the
triple resonance character of the CCHA in the FM and DAB-
VHF range. The upper circuit of Fig. 2 can be considered as
common source configuration with degeneration for the FM
and DAB-VHF-Band, while in the L-Band it acts like a source
follower with resonant output transformation. The amplifier is
built around a GaAs HEMT transistor.
The need for a separate AM amplification arises from the
fact that no low-noise stage can be designed linearly enough in
order to prevent FM/AM conversions. These conversions are
caused by the 2nd-order intermodulation effect of strong FM
signals falling into the AM-Band. Another reason for a two-
path amplifier is the inevitable flicker-noise, which requires
the use of 1/f low-noise transistors for the AM range.
With such an antenna amplifier design nearly all
requirements of VDA [4], demanded for automotive
applications, can be satisfied.
A. AM Amplifier
The lower part of Fig. 2 indicates the structure of the AM
amplifier. For a good AM performance it is obligatory to
reduce capacitive loading by the amplifiers to an absolute
minimum due to the low antenna capacitance. Therefore the
AM amplifier is designed as a JFET cascode stage, followed
Fig. 2. AC block diagram of the AM/FM/DAB high-impedance
amplifier.
2982
by a buffer stage in order not to deteriorate the output signal
level when connecting a long 50 Ohm coaxial cable to the
receiver. At the input of the AM amplifier path a low-pass
filter prevents the full FM signal from reaching the AM stage.
B. FM Amplifier
The FM amplifier basically consists of a common source
stage with negative feedback in order to improve the
nonlinearity behavior. The components are dimensioned in
order to obtain about 6 dB voltage gain in the FM range. The
DAB paths connected at the HEMT transistors’ terminals
have only little impact upon the FM range due to the
frequency gap between FM and DAB.
C. DAB Amplifier
The DAB-VHF amplifier part has a special negative
feedback design. A frequency selective network consisting of
two coupled resonant circuits is added in parallel to the FM
degeneration previously described. The input impedance of the
frequency-dependent DAB-VHF degeneration compensates
the sharp resonance of the CCHA, so that a flat frequency
response is obtained in the VHF range.
The simulated input impedance of the frequency selective
network is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Simulated input impedance of two capacitive coupled series
resonant circuits for the DAB-VHF negative feedback (80-400 MHz).
In the DAB-L-Band part of the amplifier the HEMT
transistor acts as a source follower. The signal amplification is
realized with a resonance transformation in the small DAB-L-
Band. In order to avoid undesired oscillations, the transistor
terminals are decoupled by frequency selective filter measures.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
A. Laboratory Measurements
In the lab the measured noise figure of the amplifier
according to Fig. 2 is less than 1.4 dB for the entire FM
broadcast range in a 50 Ohm system. For linearity
measurements two tones are supplied at the input in order to
measure the output signals for the fundamental input
frequencies and the 2nd- and 3rd-order intermodulation
products. For the FM-Band the intermodulation ratio of 3rd-
order is higher than 55 dB at 110 dBμV signal level of each
 The 8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2014)
fundamental output tone. For both DAB-Bands the
measurement of the 3rd-order intermodulation product results
in at least 65 dB below a 100 dBμV signal level of each
fundamental output tone.
B. Signal Level Measurements in an Anechoic Chamber
The curves depicted in Fig. 4 show the measurement
results achieved with the new triple resonant CCHA, as
described in section II. C., measured in an anechoic chamber
with the active antenna mounted on a grounded metal plate. In
order to facilitate comparison the former results of the double
resonant CCHA, as described in section II. B., are also
illustrated. For each frequency range an appropriate
transmitting monopole antenna of quarter wavelength on a
grounded metal plate is used. In the same way monopole
receiving antennas of quarter wavelength were applied as
reference antennas for each frequency range.
Fig. 4. Level measurements in an anechoic chamber in the FM, VHF and
L-Band frequency ranges showing the ratio between the signal delivered
by the triple/double resonant CCHA and the signal delivered by an
appropriate passive quarter wavelength reference antenna (0 dB) for
vertical polarization.
The upper curve in Fig. 4 shows the measured ratio in the
FM range of the frequency response of the new active antenna
compared to the frequency response of a passive 90 cm long
reference monopole. The FM signal level in Fig. 4 is in
average approximately 2 dB higher with vertical polarization
2983
compared to the appropriate quarter wavelength reference rod
antenna. This means that the averaged FM reception is
improved by more than 5 dB with the triple resonant CCHA
compared to the double resonant CCHA.
The middle curve depicts the measured ratio in the VHF
range of the frequency response of the new active antenna
compared to the frequency response of a passive 34 cm long
reference monopole. The VHF signal level in Fig. 4 is in
average approximately 7 dB higher with vertical polarization
compared to the appropriate quarter wavelength reference rod
antenna. Therefore the DAB-VHF reception with the triple
resonant CCHA is only slightly improved compared to the
reception with the double resonant CCHA.
The lower curve in Fig. 4 depicts the measured ratio in the
L-Band of the frequency response of the new active antenna
compared to the frequency response of a passive 4 cm long
reference monopole.
As can be seen, the performance of the new triple resonant
CCHA active antenna is in the entire broadcast range above the
one achieved by the passive quarter wavelength reference
antenna and furthermore it is superior in the FM range and
equivalent in the VHF range compared to the double resonant
CCHA.
C. Field Measurements
Now the active triple resonant CCHA is mounted on top of
a car, above the rear windshield. The car is placed on a
turntable and the measured values are averaged for a complete
car rotation. The antenna test site is built in an open air ground
and suitable for antenna measurements up to 800 MHz. The
transmitting antenna is arranged in a distance of approximately
40 m from the turntable. The results displayed in Fig. 5 are
referred to the ones obtained with a 90 cm passive monopole
reference antenna in the FM frequency range and compared to
a 34 cm long rod reference antenna in the VHF frequency
range on a front fender of the car, both for vertical and
horizontal polarization.
In the FM range the measured results in Fig. 4 are
comparable to those in Fig. 5 with vertical polarization. The
difference is caused by the size of the car body, which
corresponds to the FM wavelength. Therefore the mounting
position of the active antenna has a major impact upon the
delivered signal with respect to the behavior of the
electromagnetic field in its vicinity. For horizontal polarization
the mounting position of the antenna with respect to the edge
of the roof is even greater than with vertical polarization for
the received signal. The signal level in Fig. 5 is in average 6
dB higher with vertical polarization and 13 dB higher with
horizontal polarization compared to the reference rod antenna.
In the VHF frequency range the frequency dependent
signal pick up with vertical polarization in Fig. 5 is comparable
to Fig. 4. The signal level in Fig. 5 is in average 9 dB higher
with vertical and horizontal polarization compared to the
appropriate quarter wavelength reference rod antenna.
 The 8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2014)

experimentally evaluated. This high-impedance amplifier is

especially suitable for combination with an ultra-short 14 cm
long thin capacitive coupled helical antenna for terrestrial
audio broadcast services. The new active antenna exhibits a
CCHA with either a double or triple resonance character and
can therefore be used as multiservice AM/FM/DAB active
antenna, whereas the triple resonant CCHA improves FM
reception compared to the double resonant CCHA. The use of
a single HEMT transistor for the FM and DAB services offers
an ultra-compact, wideband and low-cost solution and has low
requirements with regard to the input path.
REFERENCES
[1] A. Negut, L. Reiter, J. Hopf, and S. Lindenmeier, “High-impedance
amplifier for a novel 14 cm short AM/FM automotive active antenna,”
in European Conference on Antennas and Propagation EuCAP 2010,
Barcelona, Spain, Apr. 12-16, 2010.
[2] E. Perri, “Continously loaded mast antennas for vehicular applications,”
in IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium
Fig. 5. Field measurements in the FM and VHF frequency ranges 2006, July 9-14, 2006, pp. 2357-2360.
showing the ratio between the signal delivered by the triple resonant
[3] A. Negut, L. Reiter, and S. Lindenmeier, “Ultra short active antenna
CCHA and the signal delivered by an appropriate passive quarter with high impedance amplifier for AM, FM and DAB (VHF, L-Band),”
wavelength reference antenna (0 dB) for vertical and horizontal in German Microwave Conference GeMiC 2010, Berlin, Germany,
polarization. Mar.15-17.
[4] “VDA-Spezifikationen für Fahrzeug-Antennen (Entwurf),”
V. CONCLUSIONS Funktionsanforderungen und Messmethoden, Jan. 2005, Verband der
Automobilindustrie.
An amplifier structure on the base of one HEMT transistor
for FM and DAB has been investigated, realized and

2984