KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

LAB REPORT 3

ANTENNA AND PROPAGATION

RECIPROCITY THEOREM

By:
Kushal Pradhan
EE-Communication
Roll no: 41015

Submitted to:
Ms. Manya Gautam,
Department of Electrical and Electronics,
Kathmandu University,
Dhulikhel

Date: 21st November, 2010

Objective: To demonstrate that the transmitting and receiving radiation patterns of an antenna are
equal and hence confirm the reciprocity theorem of antennas

Equipments used:
i. Yagi and Dipole antenna.
ii. Antenna transmitter, receiver and stepper motor controller.
iii. Antenna tripod and stepper tripod with connecting cables, measuring
Tape
Background:

A Yagi-Uda Antenna, commonly known simply as a Yagi antenna or Yagi, is a

directional antenna system consisting of an array of a dipole and additional closely coupled
parasitic elements. A parasitic element is an element that is not directly connected to the feed
line. Parasitic elements are used for the purpose of obtaining directional power gain. Generally,
parasitic elements can be classified as either directors or reflectors; hence they work in opposite
ways.
The dipole in the array is driven, and another element, typically 5% longer, effectively
operates as a reflector. Other parasitic elements shorter than the dipole may be added in front of
the dipole and are referred to as directors. This arrangement increases antenna directionality and
gain in the preferred direction over a single dipole.
Directional antennas such as the Yagi-Uda are commonly referred to as beam antennas
or high-gain antennas (particularly for transmitting).

A dipole antenna is a radio antenna that can be made by a simple wire, with a center-

fed driven element. The current amplitude on such an antenna decreases uniformly from
maximum at the center to zero at the ends.

Radiation Pattern:

The radiation pattern or antenna pattern describes the relative strength of the radiated
field in various directions from the antenna. The radiation pattern is a reception pattern as well,
since it also describes the receiving properties of the antenna. The typical linear plot for Yagi
antenna will look like the pattern below.
The radiation pattern in the region close to the antenna is not the same as the pattern at large
distances. The term near-field refers to the field pattern that exists close to the antenna, while the
term far-field refers to the field pattern at large distances. The far-field is also called the radiation
field, and is what is most commonly of interest. Ordinarily, it is the radiated power that is of
interest, and so antenna patterns are usually measured in the far-field region. For pattern
measurement it is important to choose a distance sufficiently large to be in the far-field, well out
of the near-field. The minimum permissible distance depends on the dimensions of the antenna
in relation to the wavelength. The accepted formula for this distance is:
R min = (2d2)/
Where, Rmin is the minimum distance from the antenna, d is the largest dimension of the antenna,
and  is the wavelength.

Reciprocity Theorem:

If an emf is applied to the terminals of an antenna A and the current measured at the terminals of
another antenna B, then an equal current (in both amplitude and phase) will be obtained at the
terminals of A if the same emf is applied to the terminals of antenna B.

Case A:

Transmitter: Dipole Antenna

Receiver: Yagi Antenna
Separation between transmitter and receiver: 2 m.
Frequency: 600 MHz.

We obtained the following receiver power readings. The readings are from 0 degree to 360
degrees in an interval of 5 degrees.

Matlab Code:

clc

degrees=0:5:360;

radian=(pi/180).*degrees;

received_power=[77.5 77.5 77.6 77.4 77.1 76.7 76.4 75.7 74.7 73.4 71.9 70.5 68.4 65.5 63.7
63.8 63.1 61.5 57.5 55.4 55.5 58.7 59.4 60.3 60.6 61.0 61.7 64.2 65.1 67.1 66.6 68.4 68.7 68.8 69
68 67.7 67.8 68 67 67.3 66.9 66.5 66.4 67.5 66.9 66.3 65.8 65.3 64.6 64 63.1 59.1 55 52.3 51
48.6 45.5 58 61.5 63.6 65.2 67 69.6 71.7 73.4 74.4 75.8 76.6 77.1 77.7 78 78.3]

polar(radian,received_power)
 Radiation Pattern for case A
90 80
120 60
60

150 40 30

20

180 0

210 330

240 300
270

Case B:

Transmitter: Yagi Antenna

Receiver: Dipole Antenna
Separation between transmitter and receiver: 2 m.
Frequency: 600 MHz.

We obtained the following receiver power readings. The readings are from 0 degree to 360
degrees in an interval of 5 degrees.

Matlab Code:

clc

degrees=0:5:360;

radian=(pi/180).*degrees;

received_power=[78.3 78.3 78.2 78.1 77.9 77.5 77.1 76.7 75.4 74.6 73.6 71.9 71.6 69.8 69.4
67.4 66.2 64.6 63.8 62.4 61.7 62.4 60.7 61.5 62.1 63.1 64.8 65 66.4 66.7 68.5 68.1 68.8 69.5 69.8
69 69.5 70.5 69.2 68.2 65.9 67 66.2 67.1 65.7 65.6 65 63.9 64.3 63.9 62.9 61.9 61.7 62.7 62.4
61.5 61.8 57.1 57.2 53.3 51 50.8 64.2 64.1 68.9 71.8 72.8 74.4 75.1 76.5 77.3 77.6 77.9]

polar(radian,received_power)
 Radiation Pattern for case B
90 80
120 60
60

150 40 30

20

180 0

210 330

240 300
270

Radiation pattern plots for case A and case B respectively:

90 100
120 60
150 50 30

180 0

210 330
240 300
270

Comparision of radiation pattern for case A and case B

90 100
120 60
150 50 30

180 0

210 330
240 300
270
The reflection from the walls and other obstacles, interference et cetera, had influenced the
readings. Owing to these limitations we have not been able to get the radiation pattern showing
distinct front, back and side lobes. Despite of these intrinsic constraints, we can infer from the
comparative plots, that the plots are similar.

Inference:

Referring to the consequence of reciprocity theorem that, transmitting and receiving pattern of an
antenna are the same, we have shown that the transmitting and receiving pattern of Yagi antenna
is same. So, this confirms the reciprocity theorems of antennas.