Antenna Theory and Design

Antenna Theory and Design

Associate Professor:
WANG Junjun 王珺珺
School of Electronic and Information Engineering,
Beihang University
wangjunjun@buaa.edu.cn
13426405497
New Main Building F1025
Chapter 4
Wire Antennas
Chapter 4 Wire Antennas

▫ Infinitesimal Dipole
▫ Small Dipole
▫ Finite length Dipole
▫ Half-wavelength Dipole
▫ Antenna above a perfect ground plane
▫ Folded Dipole
▫ Yagi Uda Antenna
▫ Travelling-Wave Antenna
1. Infinitesimal Dipole

• Wire antennas, linear or curved, are some

of the oldest, simplest, cheapest, and in
many cases the most versatile for many
applications. we begin our analysis of
antennas by considering some of the
oldest, simplest, and most basic
configurations.
1. Infinitesimal Dipole
• An infinitesimal linear wire (l <<λ, r<< λ) is
positioned symmetrically at the origin of the
coordinate system and oriented along the z
axis, as shown in Figure 1.
• Although infinitesimal dipoles are not very
practical, they are used to represent capacitor-
plate (also referred to as top-hat-loaded)
antennas.
• In addition, they are utilized as building
blocks of more complex geometries. The end
Infinitesimal dipole plates are used to provide capacitive loading
in order to maintain the current on the dipole
nearly uniform.

Since the end plates are assumed to be small, their radiation is usually
negligible. The wire is very small and thin, the spatial variation of the current is
assumed to be constant.
1. Infinitesimal Dipole
• The radiation resistance is:

• The input reactance is capacitive.

• This can be seen by visualizing the
antenna as an open circuited transmission
line. The distance from the end of the
antenna to the feed point is much less
than a quarter wavelength and thus the
input impedance is capacitive.
• The directivity of this antenna:
• The maximum effective aperture:
1. Infinitesimal Dipole

• To realize a uniform current distribution

in practice a mechanism must be
provided for charge storage at the ends
of the short wire. One method of
accomplishing this is to place metal
plates at the ends of the wire. This is
called a capacitor-plate antenna, or top-
hat-loaded dipole antenna.
1. Infinitesimal Dipole
• For a wire antenna to be classified as an infinitesimal dipole, its overall length
must be very small (usually l ≤ λ/50).

• Example:
• Find the radiation resistance of an infinitesimal dipole whose overall length is

• Solution: 1
= 80 = 80 = 0.316
50

• Since the radiation resistance of an infinitesimal dipole is about 0.3 ohms, it will
present a very large mismatch when connected to practical, transmission lines,
many of which have characteristic impedances of 50 or 75 ohms. The reflection
efficiency ( ) and hence the overall efficiency ( ) will be very small.
2. Small Dipole

• For infinitesimal dipole, its current distribution was assumed to be constant.

Although a constant current distribution is not realizable (other than top-hat-
loaded elements), it is a mathematical quantity that is used to represent actual
current distributions of antennas that have been incremented into many small
lengths.
• For small dipole antenna whose lengths are usually λ/50 < l ≤ λ/10, the current
must smoothly go to zero at the ends of the wave. For a thin wire
(diameter<<wavelength), this current distribution is approximately sinusoidal.
The decreasing current toward the wire ends requires that charges peel off and
appear on the wire surface. These can be observed by you in the following
figures.
• As Delta l becomes extremely small, the sinusoidal type current distribution is
well approximated by the triangular distribution.
•
2 Small Dipole

• The input reactance is capacitive. If end loading is added, this capacitance is

reduced as the loading is increased. This is because the distance from the open
circuit in the transmission line analog is increased.

• Since the directivity of an antenna is controlled by the relative shape of the field
or power pattern, the directivity, and maximum effective area of this antenna are
the same as the infinitesimal dipole.
3 Finite-length Dipole
• To reduce the mathematical complexities, it will be assumed that the dipole
has a negligible diameter. For dipoles, we assume that the current distribution
is sinusoidal(l > λ/10). The current must, of course, be zero at the ends. We
are, in effect, using the current distribution which is found on an open-
circuited parallel wire transmission line. It is assumed that if the end of such a
transmission line is bent out to form a wire antenna, the current distribution
along the bent portion is essentially unchanged. Although this is not strictly
true it is a good approximation for thin antennas, for which the conductor
diameter is on the order of 0:01 or smaller.
• For a very thin dipole (ideally zero diameter), the current distribution can be
written, to a good approximation, as
3 Finite-length Dipole
• This distribution assumes that the antenna is center-fed and the current
vanishes at the end points (z = ±l/2). Experimentally it has been verified that
the current in a center-fed wire antenna has sinusoidal form with nulls at the
end points.

• For different length, the current distribution of is shown plotted in Figures

3 Finite-length Dipole
3 Finite-length Dipole
• It is found that the 3-dB beamwidth of each is equal to

• As the length of the dipole increases beyond one wavelength (l > λ), the
number of lobes begin to increase.
• The normalized power pattern for a dipole with l = 1.25λ is shown

Three- and two-dimensional (elevation pattern) amplitude patterns for a thin dipole of l = 1.25λ
and sinusoidal current distribution.
3 Finite-length Dipole
• By the definition, the radiation resistance is referred to the maximum current
which for some lengths (l = λ/4, 3 λ/4, λ, etc.) does not occur at the input
terminals of the antenna, the antenna itself is first assumed to be lossless
(Rl=0). Then the power at the input terminals is equated to the power at the
current maximum.

• or

radiation resistance at input (feed) terminals

radiation resistance at current maximum
current maximum
current at inpuy treminals

Current distribution of a linear wire antenna

when current maximum does not occur at
the input terminals.
3 Finite-length Dipole
• Current distributions along the length of a linear wire antenna

• The input radiation resistance

• Rin = radiation resistance at input (feed) terminals

• Rr = radiation resistance at current maximum

Radiation resistance, input resistance and directivity of a thin

dipole with sinusoidal current distribution.
3 Finite-length Dipole
• Simple Formulas for the Input Resistance of Dipoles

• Input resistance can be related to radiation resistance. There are several ways
to define radiation resistance by using different current reference points.
▫ Usually radiation resistance is defined using the current distribution maximum Im,
whether or not it actually occurs on the antenna. We shall use the symbol Rrm for
this definition.
▫ It is also useful to refer the radiation resistance to the terminal point. In this case the
symbol Rri is used.
▫ A third radiation resistance, denoted by Rr, is often used, it is the radiation
resistance relative to the maximum current that occurs on the antenna.
4 Half-Wavelength Dipole
• One of the most commonly used antennas is the half-wavelength (l = λ/2)
dipole. Because its radiation resistance is 73 ohms, which is very near the 50-
ohm or 75-ohm characteristic impedances of some transmission lines, its
matching to the line is simplified especially at resonance.
• This is the well known value for the radiation resistance of a thin, linear,
center-fed, half-wavelength antenna with sinusoidal current distribution.
• The half-wave dipole antenna is a linear current whose amplitude varies as
one-half of a sine wave with a maximum at the center.
4 Half-Wavelength Dipole
• The advantage of a half-wave dipole is that it can be made to resonate and
present a zero input reactance, thus eliminating the need for turning to achieve
a conjugate impedance match.
• To obtain a resonant condition for a half-wave dipole, the physical length must
be somewhat shorter than a free space half-wave length and as the antenna
wire thickness is increased the length must be reduced more to achieve
resonance.
• For comparison, the half-power beamwidth of a half-wave dipole pattern is
78, while that of an ideal dipole pattern is 90 . Thus, there is a small increase
in the directivity of the half-wave dipole over the short dipole.
4 Half-Wavelength Dipole
• The current distribution and radiation pattern of the half-wave dipole is shown.

• The maximum directivity of the half-wavelength dipole

⁄

• The radiation resistance, for a free-space medium (η  120π),

4 Half-Wavelength Dipole

• The radiation resistance is also the radiation resistance at the input terminals
(input resistance) since the current maximum for a dipole of l = λ/2 occurs at
the input terminals.

• The imaginary part (reactance) associated with the input impedance of a dipole
is a function of its length (for l = λ/2, it is equal to j 42.5). Thus the total input
impedance for l = λ/2 is equal to
4 Half-Wavelength Dipole

• To reduce the imaginary part of the input impedance to zero, the antenna is
matched or reduced in length until the reactance vanishes. The latter is most
commonly used in practice for half-wavelength dipoles. To make the reactance
zero, requires that the antenna be shorted a few percent less than half-
wavelength. This shortening results in a reduction in the value of the radiation
resistance to about 65 ohm.

• Depending on the radius of the wire, the length of the dipole for first
resonance is about l = 0.47λ to 0.48λ; the thinner the wire, the closer the length
is to 0.48λ. Thus, for thicker wires, a larger segment of the wire has to be
removed from λ/2 to achieve resonance.
5 Antennas Above A Perfect Ground Plane

• Thus far we have considered the radiation characteristics of antennas radiating

into an unbounded medium.

• Antenna are frequently operated in the presence of other structure. One such
structure that is commonly encountered is a ground plane. A ground plane in
its ideal form is infinite in extent and perfectly conducting, often referred to as
a perfect ground plane. A solid metal sheet or a planar wire grid system that is
large compared to the antenna size is, in most cases, well approximated as a
perfect ground plane.

• Any energy from the radiating element directed toward the ground undergoes
a reflection. The amount of reflected energy and its direction are controlled by
the geometry and constitutive parameters of the ground.
5.1 Image Theory

• To analyze the performance of an antenna near an infinite plane conductor,

virtual sources (images) will be introduced to account for the reflections. As
the name implies, these are not real sources but imaginary ones, which when
combined with the real sources, form an equivalent system.

• For analysis purposes only, the equivalent system gives the same radiated field
on and above the conductor as the actual system itself. Below the conductor,
the equivalent system does not give the correct field. However, in this region
the field is zero and there is no need for the equivalent.
5.1 Image Theory

• To begin the discussion, let us assume that a vertical electric dipole is placed a
distance h above an infinite, flat, perfect electric conductor
5.1 Image Theory
• The amount of reflection is generally determined by the respective constitutive
parameters of the media below and above the interface. For a perfect electric
conductor below the interface, the incident wave is completely reflected and
the field below the boundary is zero. According to the boundary conditions,
the tangential components of the electric field must vanish at all points along
the interface.

• Thus for an incident electric field with vertical polarization shown by the
arrows, the polarization of the reflected waves must be as indicated in the
figure to satisfy the boundary conditions. To excite the polarization of the
reflected waves, the virtual source must also be vertical and with a polarity in
the same direction as that of the actual source (thus a reflection coefficient of
+1).
5.1 Image Theory
• Vertical Electric dipole

• It is evident that total electric filed is equal to the product of the field of a
single source positioned symmetrically about the origin and a factor which is a
function of the antenna height (h) and the observation angle (). This is
referred to as pattern multiplication and the factor is known as the array
factor.
5.1 Image Theory
• Vertical Electric dipole

Elevation plane amplitude patterns of a vertical infinitesimal electric dipole

for different heights above an infinite perfect electric conductor
5.1 Image Theory
• Horizontal Electric dipole
• Figure displays that horizontal electric
dipole is placed a distance h above an
infinite, flat, perfect electric conductor

• The image of a current element oriented in any direction with respect to a perfect
ground plane may be found by decomposing it into perpendicular and parallel
components, forming the images of the components, and constructing the image from
these image components.
• The perfectly-conducting infinite ground plane is, of course, an idealization. The
perfectly conducting assumption is valid when good conductors such aluminum or
copper are used. The infinitely large assumption is more severe. However, generally
speaking, if the conducting plane extends beyond the source by several times the length
of the source and if the source is not too far away from the conducting plane, this
assumption is also valid.
5.1 Image Theory
• Horizontal Electric dipole
• The total field

• It again consists of the product of the field of a single isolated element placed
symmetrically at the origin and a factor (within the brackets) known as the
array factor.
5.1 Image Theory
• Horizontal Electric dipole

Elevation plane (φ = 90◦) amplitude patterns of a horizontal infinitesimal electric

dipole for different heights above an infinite perfect electric conductor.
5.2 Principle of Duality
• If antenna structures are dual it is possible to write the fields for one antenna from the
field expressions of the other by interchanging parameters using the principle of duality.
• First we will discuss the general principle of duality as applied to antennas.
• Suppose we have an electric current source with current density J1 and boundary
conditions on materials present Maxwell's equations for this system are:

• Now suppose a fictitious magnetic current source with magnetic current density M2 exists
with materials present Maxwell equations for this system are :

• The electric and magnetic systems are duals if the procedure in the table on the following
can be performed.

• This is useful to understand Fig4.13(reference book2)

5.3 Monopoles
• A monopole is a dipole divided in half at its center feed point and fed against a
ground plane. The monopoles and their images in a perfect ground plane are
shown in the figure below.
• High-frequency monopoles are often fed from coaxial cables behind the
ground plane as shown below: The currents and charges on a monopole are the
same as on the upper half of its dipole counterpart, but the terminal voltage is
only half that of the dipole.
• The voltage is half because the gap
width of the input terminals is half
that of the dipole, and the same electric
field over half the distance gives half
the voltage.
5.3 Monopoles
• Then the input impedance for a monopole is :
, ,
, ,
, ,

• This is easily demonstrated for the radiated resistance. Since the fields only
extend over a hemisphere the power radiated is only half that of a dipole with
the same current.
• Therefore, the radiation resistance of monopole is half that of the dipole.
5.3 Monopoles
• The radiation pattern of a monopole above a perfect ground plane is the same
as that of a dipole similarly positioned in free space since the fields above the
image plane are the same. Therefore, a monopole above a perfect ground plane
radiates one-half the total power of a similar dipole in free space because the
power is distributed in the same fashion but only over half as much space.
• The beam solid angle of a monopole above a perfect ground plane is one-half
that of a similar dipole in free space. Then, we can get:

,
,

• The directivity increase does not come from an increase in the radiation
intensity but rather from a decrease in average radiation intensity.
6 Folded Dipole
• An extremely practical wire antenna is the folded dipole. It consists of two
parallel dipoles connected at the ends forming a narrow wire loop with
dimension d much smaller than L and much smaller than a wavelength. The
feed point is at the center of one side. The folded dipole antenna is a very
popular wire antenna. The reasons for this are its impedance properties and
ease of construction. In addition, it has wider bandwidth.
6 Folded Dipole
• The folded dipole is essentially an unbalanced transmission line with unequal
currents. Its operation is analyzed by considering the current to be composed
to two modes: the transmission line mode and the antenna mode.

The folded dipole antenna The current modes on a folded dipole antenna.
(a) Transmission line mode. (b) Antenna mode.
 6 Folded Dipole
• The currents in the transmission line mode have fields that tend to cancel in the far
field since d is small. The input impedance for this mode is given by the equation for a
transmission line with a short circuit load.

• In the antenna mode the fields from the currents in each vertical section reinforce in the
far field since they are similarly directed.
• Suppose a voltage V is applied across the input terminals. The total behavior is
determined by the superposition of the equivalent circuits for each mode

The transmission line mode current is

For the antenna mode, the antenna current is

where to a first-order approximation ZD is the input

Mode excitation and current for a voltage V applied impedance for an ordinary dipole of the same wire
to the terminals of a folded dipole. size.
(a) Transmission line mode. (b) Antenna mode.
 •

The input impedance of a half-wave folded dipole (at

resonance) is four times that of an ordinary dipole.
Zin = 280 is very close to the 300 of common twin-lead
transmission line.
where to a first-order approximation ZD is the
input impedance for an ordinary dipole of the
Mode excitation and current for a voltage V applied same wire size.
to the terminals of a folded dipole.
(a) Transmission line mode. (b) Antenna mode.
7 Yagi-Uda Antenna
• Array antennas can be used to increase directivity. The arrays we have
examined have had all elements active, requiring a direct connection to each
element by a feed network. The feed networks for arrays are considerably
simplified if only a few elements are fed directly. Such an array is referred to
as a parasitic array. The elements that are not directly driven (called parasites)
receive their excitation by near-field coupling from the driven elements. A
parasitic linear array of parallel dipoles is called Yagi-Uda antenna, Yagi-Uda
array, or simply "Yagi".
7 Yagi-Uda Antenna
• Yagi-Uda Antennas are very popular because of their simplicity and relatively
high gain. In this section the principles of operation and design data for Yagi
will be presented.
• The basic unit of a Yagi consists of three elements. To understand the
principles of operation for a three-element Yagi we will begin with a driven
element (driver) and add parasites to the array.
7 Yagi-Uda Antenna

• Consider a driven element that is a resonant half-wave dipole. If a parasitic

element is spaced very close to it, it is excited by the driven element with
roughly equal amplitude, so the field incident on the parasite is

• A current is excited on the parasite and it will radiate electric field Eparasite.
• From the boundary condition for good conductor, 0 = Eparasite + Eincident. Then

• From array theory we know that two closely spaced, equal amplitude, opposite
phase elements will have an endfire pattern.
7 Yagi-Uda Antenna

• Reflector
▫ The numerical methods demonstrates the general trend of a parasite which
is longer than the driver: a single main beam occurs in the endfire direction
from the parasite to the driver along the line of the array. Such a parasite is
called a reflector because it appears to reflect radiation from the driver.

• Director
▫ If the parasite is shorter than the driver, but now placed on the other side of
the driver, the pattern effect is similar to that when using a reflector in the
sense that main beam enhancement is in the same direction. The parasite is
then referred to as a director since it appears to direct radiation in the
direction from the driver toward the director.
7 Yagi-Uda Antenna

• The single endfire beam created by the use of a reflector or a director alone
with a driver suggests that even further enhancement could be achieved with a
reflector and a director on opposite sides of a driver. The maximum directivity
obtained from a three-element Yagi is about 9dB.

• The optimum spacing ( for maximum directivity) are on the order of 0.15 to
0.25 wavelength between the reflector and driver and also between the driver
to director. Typically the reflector is lengthened 5% or more and the director is
shortened 5% or more from the length of resonant length driver.
8 Travelling-Wave Wire Antenna

• The wire antennas we have discussed thus far have been resonant
structures. The wave traveling outward from the feed point to the end of
the wire is reflected, setting up a standing-wave type current distribution.
This can be seen by
⁄

• The first term in brackets represents an outward traveling wave and the
second term a reflected wave. The minus sign is the current reflection
coefficient at an open circuit.

• If the reflected wave is not present on an antenna it is referred to as a

traveling-wave antenna.
8 Travelling-Wave Wire Antenna

• Center-fed linear wire antennas were discussed whose amplitude current

distribution was
1. constant for infinitesimal dipoles (l ≤ λ/50)
2. linear (triangular) for short dipoles (λ/50 < l ≤ λ/10)
3. sinusoidal for long dipoles (l > λ/10)

• In all cases the phase distribution was assumed to be constant. The sinusoidal
current distribution of long open-ended linear antennas is a standing wave
constructed by two waves of equal amplitude and 180◦ phase difference at the
open end traveling in opposite directions along its length.
8 Travelling-Wave Wire Antenna

• The voltage distribution has also a standing wave pattern except that it has
maxima (loops) at the end of the line instead of nulls (nodes) as the current.

• In each pattern, the maxima and minima repeat every integral number of half
wavelengths. There is also a λ/4 spacing between a null and a maximum in
each of the wave patterns.

• The current and voltage distributions on open-ended wire antennas are similar
to the standing wave patterns on open-ended transmission lines. Linear
antennas that exhibit current and voltage standing wave patterns formed by
reflections from the open end of the wire are referred to as standing wave or
resonant antennas.
8 Travelling-Wave Wire Antenna
• Antennas can be designed which have traveling wave (uniform) patterns in current and
voltage. This can be achieved by properly terminating the antenna wire so that the
reflections are minimized if not completely eliminated.
• An example of such an antenna is a long wire that runs horizontal to the earth. The
input terminals consist of the ground and one end of the wire. This configuration is
known as Beverage or wave antenna.
• In general, all antennas whose current and voltage distributions can be represented by
one or more traveling waves, usually in the same direction, are referred to as traveling
wave or nonresonant antennas. A progressive phase pattern is usually associated with
the current and voltage distributions.
8 Travelling-Wave Wire Antenna
• Standing wave antennas, such as the dipole, can be analyzed as traveling wave
antennas with waves propagating in opposite directions (forward and backward) and
represented by traveling wave currents If and Ib.
• Besides the longwire antenna there are many examples of traveling wave antennas such
as dielectric rod (polyrod), helix, and various surface wave antennas. Aperture
antennas, such as reflectors and horns, can also be treated as traveling wave antennas.
In addition, arrays of closely spaced radiators (usually less than λ/2 apart) can also be
analyzed as traveling wave antennas by approximating their current or field distribution
by a continuous traveling wave. Yagi-Uda, log-periodic, and slots and holes in a
waveguide are some examples of discrete-element traveling wave antennas.
• In general, a traveling wave antenna is
usually one that is associated with
radiation from a continuous source
8 Travelling-Wave Wire Antenna

• In general, there are two types of traveling wave antennas. One is the surface
wave antenna defined as “an antenna which radiates power flow from
discontinuities in the structure that interrupt a bound wave on the antenna
surface.” For slow wave structures radiation takes place only at
nonuniformities, curvatures, and discontinuities.

• Most of the surface wave antennas are end-fire or near-end-fire radiators.

Practical configurations include line, planar surface, curved, and modulated
structures.
8 Travelling-Wave Wire Antenna
• Another traveling wave antenna is a leaky-wave antenna defined as “an
antenna that couples power in small increments per unit length, either
continuously or discretely, from a traveling wave structure to free-space”.
Leaky-wave antennas continuously lose energy due to radiation. The fields
decay along the structure in the direction of wave travel and increase in others.
Most of them are fast wave structures

Leaky-wave waveguide slots; upper (broad) and side (narrow) walls.

8.1 Long Wire
• An example of a slow wave traveling antenna is a long wire. An antenna is
usually classified as a long wire antenna if it is a straight conductor with a
length from one to many wavelengths. A long wire antenna has the distinction
of being the first traveling wave antenna. The traveling-wave long wire
antenna is shown in with a matched load RL to prevent reflections from the
wire end.
8.1 Long Wire

• The height h of the antenna above the ground must be chosen so that the
reflected wave (or wave from the image), which includes the phase due to
reflection is in phase with the direct wave at the angles of desired maximum
radiation.

• Simplifying assumptions:
▫ the ground plane effects is ignored and free space;
▫ the details of the feed are assumed to be unimportant, the vertical section of length
d is assumed not to radiate;
▫ the radiative and ohmic losses along the wire are small.
• Then we can write
8.1 Long Wire

• To verify some of the derivations and illustrate some of the principles, a

number of computations were made.

Three-dimensional free-space amplitude pattern for traveling and standing wave wire antennas
of l = 5λ.
8.1 Long Wire

• To verify some of the derivations and

illustrate some of the principles, a number of
computations were made.

• The pattern of Figure (a) is formed by the

forward traveling wave current If = I1e −jkz of
Figure(a) while that of Figure (b) is formed
by the forward If plus backward Ib traveling
wave currents of Figure (a). The two currents
If and Ib together form a standing wave; that
is,
Is = If + Ib = I1e−jkz − I2e+jkz = −2jI0 sin(kz )
Two-dimensional free-space amplitude
when I2 = I1 = I0. pattern for traveling and standing wave
wire antennas of l = 5λ.
8.1 Long Wire

• As expected, for the traveling wave antenna of

Figure (a) there is maximum radiation in the
forward direction while for the standing wave
antenna of Figure (b) there is maximum
radiation in the forward and backward
directions. The lobe near the axis of the wire in
the directions of travel is the largest.

• The magnitudes of the other lobes from the

main decrease progressively, with an envelope
proportional to cot2(θ/2), toward the other
direction.
Two-dimensional free-space amplitude
pattern for traveling and standing wave
wire antennas of l = 5λ.
8.1 Long Wire

• The traveling wave antenna is used when it is desired to radiate or receive

predominantly from one direction. As the length of the wire increases, the
maximum of the main lobe shifts closer toward the axis and the number of
lobes increase.

Two-dimensional free-space amplitude pattern for

traveling wave wire antenna of l = 5λ and 10λ.
8.1 Long Wire

• For traveling wave wire antennas the radiation in the opposite direction from
the maximum is suppressed by reducing, if not completely eliminating, the
current reflected from the end of the wire. This is accomplished by increasing
the diameter of the wire or more successfully by properly terminating it to the
ground.

• Ideally a complete elimination of the reflections (perfect match) can only be

accomplished if the antenna is elevated only at small heights (compared to the
wavelength) above the ground, and it is terminated by a resistive load. The
value of the load resistor, to achieve the impedance match, is equal to the
characteristic impedance of the wire near the ground (which is found using
image theory).
8.1 Long Wire
• For a wire with diameter d and height h above the ground, an approximate
value of the termination resistance is obtained from

• A long-wire antenna is linearly polarized, and it is always parallel to the plane

formed by the wire and radial vector from the center of the wire to the
observation point. The direction of the linear polarization is not the same in all
parts of the pattern, but it is perpendicular to the radial vector (and parallel to
the plane formed by it and the wire).

• when its height above the ground is small compared to the wavelength and its
main beam is near the ground, is not an effective element for horizontal
polarization. Instead it is usually used to transmit or receive waves that have
an appreciable vector component in the vertical plane. This is what is known
as a Beverage antenna which is used more as a receiving rather than a
transmitting element because of its poor radiation efficiency due to power
absorbed in the load resistor.
8.2 V Antenna

• For some applications a single long-wire antenna is not very practical because
(1) its directivity may be low, (2) its side lobes may be high, and (3) its main
beam is inclined at an angle, which is controlled by its length. These and other
drawbacks of single long-wire antennas can be overcome by utilizing an array
of wires.

• One very practical array of long wires is the V antenna formed by using two
wires each with one of its ends connected to a feed line.
8.2 V Antenna

• In most applications, the plane formed by the legs of the V is parallel to the
ground leading to a horizontal V array whose principal polarization is parallel
to the ground and the plane of the V. Because of increased side lobes, the
directivity of ordinary linear dipoles begins to diminish for lengths greater
than about 1.25λ, However by adjusting the included angle of a V-dipole, its
directivity can be made greater and its side lobes smaller than those of a
corresponding linear dipole. Designs for maximum directivity usually require
smaller included angles for longer V’s.
8.2 V Antenna

• In theory, the reflections can even be eliminated by properly terminating the

open ends of the V leading to a purely traveling wave antenna. One way of
terminating the V antenna will be to attach a load, usually a resistor equal in
value to the open end characteristic impedance of the V-wire transmission line,
as shown in Figure (a). The terminating resistance can also be divided in half
and each half connected to the ground leading to the termination of Figure (b).
8.2 V Antenna

• If the length of each leg of the V is very long (typically l > 5λ), there will be
sufficient leakage of the field along each leg that when the wave reaches the
end of the V it will be sufficiently reduced that there will not necessarily be a
need for a termination. Of course, termination with a load is not possible
without a ground plane.

• For optimum operation, typically the included angle is chosen to be

approximately θ0 0.8θm.

• θm is the angle of maximum radiation.

8.3 Rhombic Antenna

• Two V antennas can be connected at their open ends to form a diamond or

rhombic antenna as shown in Figure (a), another configuration of a rhombus is
that of Figure (b) which is formed by an inverted V and its image (shown
dashed).
8.3 Rhombic Antenna

• The antenna is usually terminated at one end in a resistor, usually about 600–
800 ohms, in order to reduce if not eliminate reflections. However, if each leg
is long enough (typically greater than 5λ) sufficient leakage occurs along each
leg that the wave that reaches the far end of the rhombus is sufficiently
reduced that it may not be necessary to terminate the rhombus.
• Rhombic antennas are usually preferred over V’s for nonresonant and
unidirectional pattern applications because they are less difficult to terminate.