Biconical antenna

In radio systems, a biconical antenna is a broad-bandwidth antenna made of

two roughly conical conductive objects, nearly touching at their points.[1]

Biconical antennas are broadband dipole antennas, typically exhibiting a

bandwidth of three octaves or more. A common subtype is the bowtie
antenna, essentially a two-dimensional version of the biconial design which
is often used for short-range UHF television reception. These are also
Biconical antenna
sometimes referred to as butterfly antennas.

Contents
Properties
Applications
Advantages and drawbacks
See also
References
External links

Properties Omnidirectional biconical

antenna

The biconical antenna has a broad bandwidth because it is an example of a

traveling wave structure; the analysis for a theoretical infinite antenna
resembles that of a transmission line. For an infinite antenna, the characteristic impedance at the point of
connection is a function of the cone angle only and is independent of the frequency.

Practical antennas have finite length and a definite resonant frequency.[1] A simple conical monopole
antenna is a wire approximation of the solid biconical antenna and has increased bandwidth (over a simple
monopole).

Applications
Biconical (or "bicon") antennas are often used in electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing either for
immunity testing, or emissions testing.

Advantages and drawbacks

While the bicon is very broadband, it exhibits poor transmitting efficiency at frequencies at the low end of
its range, resulting in low field strengths when compared to the input power. Log periodic dipole arrays,
Yagi-Uda antennas, and reverberation chambers have shown to achieve much higher field strengths for the
power input than a simple biconical antenna in an anechoic chamber.
However, when the goal is to fully characterize a modulated or
impulse signal, rather than merely measuring peak and average
spectrum energy content, a reverberation chamber is a poor choice
for a test environment.

See also
Discone antenna
Antenna
Radio Small biconical microwave antennas
(up: 1–18 GHz, down: 0.5–3 GHz)
Television
Electromagnetic reverberation chamber
Electromagnetic compatibility

References
1. Zhuohui Zhang,Analysis and design of a broadband
antenna for software defined radio, ProQuest, 2007
ISBN 0-549-46376-3, page 6

External links
Antenna-Theory.com Bow Tie Antenna Page (http://www.a
ntenna-theory.com/antennas/wideband/bowtie.php)
UHF Discone Antenna (https://web.archive.org/web/20030
803145314/http://www.northcountryradio.com/Articles/disc
one.htm)
The Discone Antenna (http://www.qsl.net/kb7qhc/antenna/
DIY DVB-T butterfly antenna,
Discone/discone.htm)
applicable in the so-called core area
Home made video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh
W4QQruBTo)
Com-Power Corporation Biconical Antennaa - Broadband antenna suitable for EMC testing. (ht
tp://www.com-power.com/biconical_antennas.html)

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This page was last edited on 21 December 2019, at 05:02 (UTC).

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