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The Adcock antenna is an antenna array consisting of four equidistant vertical elements which can
be used to transmit or receive directional radio waves.
The Adcock array was invented and patented by British engineer Frank Adcock in 1919
as British Patent No. 130,490, and has been used for a variety of applications, both civilian and
military, ever since.[1][2][3] Although originally conceived for receiving low frequency (LF) waves, it has
also been used for transmitting, and has since been adapted for use at much higher frequencies, up
to ultra high frequency (UHF).[4][5]
In the early 1930s, the Adcock antenna (transmitting in the LF/MF bands) became a key feature of
the newly created radio navigation system for aviation. The low frequency radio range (LFR)
network, which consisted of hundreds of Adcock antenna arrays, defined the airways used by
aircraft for instrument flying. The LFR remained as the main aerial navigation technology until it was
replaced by the VOR system in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Adcock antenna array has been widely used commercially, and implemented in vertical antenna
heights ranging from over 130 feet (40 meters) in the LFR network, to as small as 5 inches (13 cm)
in tactical direction finding applications (receiving in the UHF band).[5][6]