UNIT- II

Popular Antennas

Prepared by: Bewnet Getachew

Chapter 1 has covered the basics of antennas
and laid down the foundation for us to gain a
better understanding of antennas.
In this chapter we are going to examine and
analyze some of the most popular antennas
using relevant theories, to
 see why they have become popular,
 what their major features and properties
 advantages and disadvantages
 how they should be designed.
wire-type antennas
1. Yagi-Uda antenna
2. Log-Periodic Dipole Antennas
Aperture-Type Antennas
1. Parabolic Reflector Antenna
2. Horn Antennas

microstrip antennas
Antenna Array
Since the start of communications Engineering over 100
years ago, thousands of antennas have been developed.
They can be categorized by various criteria:
in terms of the bandwidth, antennas can be divided into
narrowband and broadband antennas;
 in terms of the polarization, they can be classified as
linearly polarized or circularly polarized antennas (or even
elliptically polarized antennas);
 in terms of the resonance, they can be grouped as
resonant or traveling wave antennas;
 in terms of the number of elements, they can be organize
as element antennas or antenna arrays.
In this chapter we separate them according
to their physical structures into:
 wire-type antennas and
 aperture-type antennas.
This is because different types of antenna
exhibit different features and can be analyzed
using different methods and techniques.
Since antenna arrays can be formed by both
types and possess some special features,
they will be discussed in separate Section .
The antennas which are operated between the
frequency ranges:

30 to 300Mhz------------VHF antennas
300 to 3000Mhz----------UHF antennas
>3000Mhz ----------Microwave antennas
VHF and UHF bands
 The antennas are constructed using elevated wires
and tubing rods of copper or aluminum.
 The typical antennas most widely used in VHF and
UHF bands are: Yagi-Uda antenna, folded dipole
antenna, ground plane corner reflector antennas etc.
 Commonly used for land mobile communication,
public communication and industry.
 In this band, the waves are propagated by space
wave propagation.
 Antennas are mounted at the top of vertical masts or
towers.
wire-type antennas
1. Yagi-Uda antenna
2. Log-Periodic Dipole Antennas
1. Yagi-Uda antenna
The main feature of this type of antenna is that it consists of
three different elements:
 the driven element
 reflector and
 directors
Some people consider the Yagi–Uda antenna an array, since
it has more than one element. However, it has just one
active element and feed port; all the other elements (the
reflector and directors) are parasitic. Thus, some people
consider it an element antenna rather than an antenna array.
The element in which current is induced due to the field in
other elements is called parasitic element. Such elements
does not require transmission line connection for supplying
power.
One or more parasitic elements coupled
magnetically with the driven element forms an array
of parasitic elements.(called parasitic antenna)
The effect of parasitic element on the directional
pattern of the antenna depends on the magnitude
and the phase of the induced current in the
parasitic element.
The effect on the directional pattern depends on the
spacing between antenna elements and tuning of
the parasitic elements.
The driven element (feeder): the very heart of the antenna. It
determines the polarization and central frequency of the antenna. For a
dipole, the recommended length is about 0.47λ to ensure a good input
impedance to a 50 feed line.
The reflector: normally slightly longer than the driven resonant element to
force the radiated energy towards the front. It exhibits an inductive reactance.
It has been found that there is not much improvement by adding more
reflectors to the antenna, thus there is only one reflector. The optimum
spacing between the reflector and the driven element is between 0.15 and
0.25 wavelengths. The length of the reflector has a large effect on the front-
to-back ratio and antenna input impedance.
The directors: usually 10 to 20% shorter than the resonant driven
element and appear to direct the radiation towards the front. They are of
capacitive reactance. The director to director spacing is typically 0.25 to 0.35
wavelengths, with larger spacing for longer arrays and smaller spacing for
shorter arrays. The number of directors determines the maximum achievable
directivity and gain.
Yagi-Uda Antenna Design https://www.changpuak.ch/electro
nics

λ=c/f
S1 (director spacing) ≈ 0.34 λ
S2 (driver to director) ≈ 0.28 λ
S3 (reflector to driver) ≈ 0.28 λ

L4 (directors length, < (λ/2) < L5) ≈ 0.33 λ

L5 (driver length, < (λ/2)) = 0.48 λ
L6 (reflector length, > L5 > (λ>2)) = 0.51 λ
L7 (antenna length) = 1.6 λ

Expected gain = 1.6 λ (7dB/ λ) - 5dB = 6.2dB

General characteristics of Yagi-Uda Antenna
1. The Yagi-Uda antenna with three elements including one reflector,
one driven element and one director is commonly called beam
antenna.
2. It is generally a fixed frequency operated unit. This antenna is
frequency sensitive and the bandwidth of 3% can be easily obtained.
3. The gain of the Yagi-Uda antenna is about 7 to 8 dB. Its front to back
ratio is 20dB.
4. This antenna gives radiation beam which is unidirectional with a
moderate directivity.
5. The Yagi-Uda antenna is light weight, low cost and simple in feeding
with signal.
6. To achieve greater directivity more number of directors are used. The
number of directors may range from 2 to 40.
7. The Yagi-Uda antenna provides high gain and beamwidth greater
than that is obtained from the uniform distribution. Thus Yagi-Uda
antenna are called superdirective or super gain antennas.
2. Log-Periodic Dipole Antennas
A very similar configuration to the Yagi–Uda antenna is the log-
periodic antenna, as shown in Figure below It produces a similar
end-fire radiation pattern and directivity (typically between 7 and
15 dBi) to the Yagi–Uda and, also like the Yagi–Uda, is widely
used in the VHF and UHF bands. However, there are two major
differences between them:
 Bandwidth: the log-periodic antenna has a much wider
bandwidth than the Yagi–Uda.
 Feeder: each element of the log-periodic antenna is connected to
the source and can be seen as a feed of the antenna (i.e. each
element is active) whilst there is only one feed (driven element)
and all the others are parasitic elements in the Yagi–Uda antenna.
The antenna is divided into the so-called active region
and inactive regions.
The role of a specific dipole element is linked to the
operating frequency: if its length, L, is around half of
the wavelength, it is an active dipole and within the
active region; if its length is greater than half the
wavelength, it is in an inactive region and acts as a
reflector; if its length is smaller than half the
wavelength, it is also in an inactive region but acts as a
director, which is very similar to the Yagi–Uda antenna.
The difference is that the driven element shifts with the
frequency – this is why this antenna can offer a much
wider bandwidth than the Yagi– Uda.
The highest frequency is basically determined by the
shortest dipole length (LN ) while the lowest frequency
is determined by the longest dipole length (L1).
The reason for this antenna being called a
log-periodic antenna is that its input
impedance is a periodic function of the
logarithm of the frequency. Other
parameters that undergo similar variations
include the radiation pattern, directivity
and beamwidth.
Log-Periodic Antenna Design
Ex. 1
Design a Log-Periodic dipole antenna to cover all UHF channels which
is from 470 MHz for channel 14 to 890 MHz for channel 83. Each
channel has a bandwidth of 6 MHz. The desired directivity is 8 dBi.
Given parameters
fmin =470 MHz
fmax =890 Mhz
D = 8 dBi
From the design data table (D=8dBi)
scaling factor τ=0.854
spacing factor σ= 0.157
Apex angle α=12.13o
N=log(fmin/fmax)/log(τ)+1 N=number of antenna elements
=log(470/890)/log(0.865)+1=6
This means at least six elements are required
choose N=8
L1 = c/fmin = 3x108 / 470x106 = 0.6383m
L2 = τL1 = 0.865 x 0.6383 = 0.6487m
L3 = τL2 = 0.865 x 0.6487 = 0.5611m
L4 = τL3 = 0.865 x 0.5611 = 0.4853m
L5 = τL4 = 0.865 x 0.4853 = 0.4198m
L6 = τL5 = 0.865 x 0.4198 = 0.3631m
L7 = τL6 = 0.865 x 0.3631 = 0.3141m
L8 = τL7 = 0.865 x 0.3141 = 0.2717m

The spacing can be obtained that is

Sn = 2Lnσ = 0.314Ln n = 1 to 7
S1 = 0.314x L1 = 0.314 x 0.75 = 0.2355m
S2 = 0.314 x L2 = 0.314 x 0.6487 = 0.2037m
S3 = 0.314 x L3 = 0.314 x 0.5611 = 0.1762m
S4 = 0.314 x L4 = 0.314 x 0.4853 = 0.1524m
S5 = 0.314 x L5 = 0.314 x 0.4198 = 0.1318m
S6 = 0.314 x L6 = 0.314 x 0.3631 = 0.1140m
S7 = 0.314 x L7 = 0.314 x 0.3141 = 0.0986m
Total antenna length = S1+S2+….+Sn= 1.1122m
Aperture-Type Antennas
There is another group of antennas that are not made
of metal wires but plates to form certain
configurations that radiate/receive EM energy in an
efficient and desired manner – the aperture type
antennas.
They are often used for higher frequency
applications than wire-type antennas.
Typical examples include horn antennas and
reflector antennas.
1. Parabolic Reflector Antenna
Parabolic antenna:  A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a
parabolic reflector , a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a
parabola ,to direct the radio waves. It is often referred to as a dish
antenna.
Focus-The focus is where all the incoming radio waves are
concentrated.
Vertex-The vertex is the innermost point at the center of the parabolic
reflector.
Focal length-The focal length of a parabola is the distance from its
focus to its vertex.
Aperture-The aperture of a parabolic reflector is its opening and is
described by its diameter.

The basic structure of a parabolic dish

antenna is shown in Figure . It
consists of a feed antenna pointed
towards a parabolic reflector. The
feed antenna is often a horn antenna
 with a circular aperture.
Based on type of feed:: Based on type of feed: Parabolic antennas are
also classified by the type of feed , that is, how the radio waves are
supplied to the antenna. 1. Axial or front feed 2. Offset or off-axis feed

Axial or front feed: Axial or front feed This is the most common type
of feed, with the feed antenna located in front of the dish at the focus,
on the beam axis.

Offset or off-axis feed: Offset or off-axis feed The reflector is an

asymmetrical segment of a paraboloid, so the focus, and the feed
antenna, are located to one side of the dish. It is widely used in home
satellite television dishes.

A satellite television dish, an example

of an offset fed dish.
Parabolic antennas are also classified
by the type of feed, that is, how the
radio waves are supplied to the
antenna

Offset Gregorian antenna

Paraboloidal Reflector
Characteristics
A front-fed paraboloidal antenna consists of a reflector and a
feed antenna.
The surface of a paraboloidal reflector, which is illuminated by
the feed antenna, is formed by rotating a parabola about its axis.
Its surface is therefore a paraboloid of revolution and rays
emanating from the focus of the reflector are transformed into
plane waves – this means that it is highly directional.
If the reflector was extremely large (infinite) and the feed was a
point source at the focal point having radiation only towards the
paraboloid, all the radiated EM energy would be directed in one
direction with zero beamwidth.
Parabolic reflector antenna advantages
•High gain:   Parabolic reflector antennas are able to provide very high levels of
gain. The larger the 'dish' in terms of wavelengths, the higher the gain.
•High directivity:   As with the gain, so too the parabolic reflector or dish
antenna is able to provide high levels of directivity. The higher the gain, the
narrower the beamwidth. This can be a significant advantage in applications
where the power is only required to be directed over a small area. This can
prevent it, for example causing interference to other users, and this is important
when communicating with satellites because it enables satellites using the same
frequency bands to be separated by distance or more particularly by angle at the
antenna.

Disadvantages:
-Requires reflector and drive element

-Cost

-Size:
 The operating principle of a parabolic
antenna is that a point source of
radio waves at the focal point in front
of a parabolic reflector of conductive
material will be reflected into a plane
wave beam along the axis of the
reflector. Receiving side, an incoming
plane wave parallel to the axis will be
focused to a point at the focal point.

 
Working principle In a transmitting antenna, radio frequency current from
a transmitter is supplied through a transmission line cable to the feed
antenna, which converts it into radio waves. The radio waves are emitted
back toward the dish by the feed antenna and reflect off the dish into a
parallel beam. In a receiving antenna the incoming radio waves bounce off
the dish and are focused to a point at the feed antenna, which converts
them to electric currents which travel through a transmission line to the
receiver.
Wire grid-type parabolic antenna
used for WLAN data link at a
frequency of 2.4 GHz. It transmits
horizontally polarized radio waves
Parabolic reflectors typically have a very high gain (30-40 dB is common)
and low cross polarization. They also have a reasonable bandwidth, with
the fractional bandwidth being at least 5% on commercially available
models, and can be very wideband in the case of huge dishes (like the
Stanford "big dish" above, which can operate from 150 MHz to 1.5 GHz).
Analysis and Design
Aperture , Gain and Efficiency
gain (dBi) = 18 + 20 log D + 20 log f

where D is the diameter of the dish in meters and f is the

frequency of operation in GHz.

The gain of an aperture antenna increases with increasing

antenna size and also increases with frequency.
Aperture antennas must be accurately pointed because they
generally have narrow beamwidths. The beamwidth is usually
measured in degrees.
beamwidth =22 / Df degrees,
where D is the diameter of the dish in meters and f is the frequency of
operation in GHz.
the effective aperture of any practical circular parabolic dish is given
by

where D is the diameter and η is the efficiency of the parabolic dish

Example 1
Compute the gain, effective area, and HPBW of a 10m diameter parabolic dish
with a half wave length dipole feed in focus at 10GHz at the optimum
efficiency of 51%.
Example 2
A Parabolic dish provides a power gain of 50dB at 10GHz, with 70%
efficiency. Find out

a. Diameter.
b. Beamwidth
c. Effective area
 Applications: 
Applications Parabolic antennas are used as High gain antennas for
point to point communication In applications such as microwave relay
links that carry telephone and television signals between nearby
cities Wireless WAN/LAN links for data communications satellite and
spacecraft communication antennas Radio telescopes Radar antennas
Satellite television dish antennas

microwave relay dishes on a satellite communication antenna

communications tower
 2. Horn Antennas
 Horn antennas are the simplest and one
of the most widely used forms of
microwave antenna.
 Horn antenna is nicely integrated with
the feed line (waveguide) and the
performance can be controlled easily.
 They are mainly used for standard
antenna gain and field measurements,
feed elements for reflector antennas
and microwave communications.
 The horn can take many different forms:
pyramidal horns and conical horns bare
the most popular types – the former is
most suitable for linear polarization and
the latter for circular polarization
Pyramidal Horns
The open-ended waveguide has a small directivity and broad
beamwidth.

The pyramidal horn has therefore evolved from the open

waveguide and it is flared in both the E- and H-planes, which
results in narrow beamwidths in both principal planes.

To make such a pyramidal horn, we need to know three of the

parameters (A, lH, R1 and RH) in the H-plane and three of the
parameters (B, lE , R2 and RE ) in the E-plane. The objective of
the design is to determine these unknown dimensions.
In the H-plane, the dimensions are linked by

In the E-plane, the dimensions are linked by

When both the E- and H-planes are put together to form the
pyramidal horn, the following condition has to be satisfied in order to
make it physically realizable and properly connected to the feed
waveguide:
Example 1: Optimum horn design.
Design a standard gain horn with a directivity of 20 dBi at 10
GHz. A WR-90 waveguide will be used to feed the horn.
Solution:
The directivity is D = 20 dBi = 100, wavelength λ = 30 mm and the
dimensions of the waveguide are a = 22.86 mm and b = 10.16 mm.
Step 1: Compute the dimension A .
As suggested above, the parameters for the optimum horns are:
ηap = 0.51; s = 0.25; t = 0.375

=135 (mm)
Step 2: Calculate the dimension of B

B=Dλ2 /7.5A=88.9 mm
Step 3: Find the remaining dimensions

We get
R1 =A2/3λ =202.5mm;
R2 =B2/2λ =131.72 mm;
lH = = 213.45 mm

RH = = 168.08 mm;

RE =RH = 168.08 mm
lE = = 139.02 mm
.
Example 2
Design a gain horn antenna with a directivity of 15 dBi at 10
GHz. A WR-90 waveguide is used to feed the horn.
Example 3
The length of an E-plane sectoral horn is 15cms. Design the horn
dimensions such that it is optimum at 10GHz.
Antenna Array
An antenna array consists of more than one antenna
element and these radiating elements are strategically
placed in space to form an array with desired
characteristics, which are achieved by varying the feed
(amplitude and phase) and relative position of each
radiating element.
The total radiated field is determined by vector addition of
the fields radiated by the individual elements.
Let us assume that there are N elements in an antenna array

The phase and amplitude of each element can be tuned electrically or

mechanically using phase shifters and attenuators.
The total radiated field can be obtained by summing up the radiated
field from each element antenna, i.e.
If we know τ g, or can somehow sense it, it is possible to build a
compensating delay into one or both cables from the antennas such
that the total cable delay and geometric delay is perfectly
compensated. In this case, Vout for the multiplier is at maximum and
the voltages are in phase. If we include an adding circuit in parallel
with the multiplier, we can obtain the coherent sum of two antenna’s
voltages. It is just this kind of processing, using correlation to phase
up the signals and then adding them, that constitutes a system that
can perform antenna arraying.

Detectability

The detectability of the signals that are discussed here will always
relate to a sensitivity factor, known as G/T, where G is typically the
gain of the antenna used to gather energy from the signal of
interest and T is the total system temperature.

the maximum possible sensitivity factor for an ideal array (i.e., no

combining losses) is simply the sum of the sensitivity factors for
each
element, or
In the case of a homogeneous array, having elements of equal
collecting area and system temperature, the sensitivity factor is
Benefits of Arraying:
1. Performance Benefits
For larger antennas, the beamwidth naturally is narrower. As a
result, antenna-pointing error becomes more critical. To stay within
the main beam and incur minimal loss, antenna pointing has to be
more precise. Yet this is difficult to achieve for larger structures.
With an array configuration of smaller antennas, antenna-pointing
error is not an issue. The wider beamwidth associated with the
smaller aperture of each array element makes the array more
tolerant to pointing error. As long as the combining process is
performed with minimal signal degradation, an optimal gain can be
achieved.
2. Operability Benefits
First, higher resource utilization can be achieved.
Secondly, arraying offers high system availability and
maintenance flexibility. Suppose the array is built with 10
percent spare elements. The regular preventive maintenance can
be done on a rotating basis while allowing the system to be fully
functional at all times.
Thirdly, the cost of spare components would be smaller. Instead
of having to supply the system with 100 percent spares in order
to make it fully functional around the clock, the array offers an
option of furnishing spares at a fractional level.
Equally important is the operational robustness against failures.
With a single resource, failure tends to bring the system down.
With an array, failure in an array element degrades system
performance but does not result in a service shutdown.
3. Cost Benefits
A cost saving is realized from the fact that smaller
antennas, because of their weight and size, are easier to
build. The fabrication process can be automated to reduce
the cost. Many commercial vendors can participate in the
antenna construction business, and the market competition
will bring the cost down further.
It is often approximated that the antenna construction cost
is proportional to the antenna volume. The reception
capability, however, is proportional to the antenna surface
area. For example, halving the antenna aperture reduces
the construction cost of a single antenna by a factor of 8;
however, four antennas would be needed to achieve an
equivalent aperture. The net advantage is an approximate
50 percent cost saving.
4. Flexibility Benefits
Arraying offers a programmatic flexibility because
additional elements can be incrementally added to
increase the total aperture at the time of mission need.
This option allows for a spread in required funding and
minimizes the need to have all the cost incurred at one
time. The addition of new elements can be done with little
impact to the existing facilities that support ongoing
operations.
microstrip antenna