Questions tagged [antenna-theory]
Designing antennas, selecting antennas for specific applications, properties of a given antenna design.
422
questions
3
votes
2
answers
79
views
Antenna reciprocity how does an antenna increase receiving range?
According to Wikipedia antennas are reciprocal unless they're constructed of nonreciprocal materials.
There are a multitude of mathematical formulas which unfortunately I'm unable to understand due to ...
- 51
4
votes
2
answers
102
views
does the shape of an antenna ground plane matter?
I would like to test a tranceiver setup I created before I mount it in my car. In my backyard, there's a length strip of metal; 10m in length, 10cm wide. Now I wonder if I can use that as a ground ...
6
votes
2
answers
159
views
Why do biconical antennas have a wide bandwidth?
Why does a horizontal biconical antenna have a wider bandwidth than a dipole of similar length? What's the physics behind the biconical geometry having a bandwidth uncoupled from its length in ...
- 12.6k
0
votes
0
answers
59
views
1/2 wave dipole instead of 1/4 wave + ground plane
I have a transceiver operating at 150MHz using a 1/4 wave vertical whip and horizontal ground plane at 90 degrees.
My end user doesn't like the antenna sticking up in the air (trip hazard) so I'm ...
- 43
1
vote
2
answers
144
views
For an HF antenna I am using a mesh dipole (10sq meters) with surprising good results on 7MHz how does it work?
I try to use attic antennas I experimented an antenna made of 10sqM of chicken grid with excellent results how to calculate the aperture of such an antenna the first resonance is 3.6 MHz and the use ...
- 11
5
votes
1
answer
96
views
What lengths of counterpoise is suitable to support a 58 foot "random wire" antenna?
I am a technician interested in building my first antenna. I want to explore HF bands, 160m - 6m. Quick impedance calculations indicate that a 58 ft "random wire" antenna could work for this....
- 151
1
vote
2
answers
77
views
Understanding Coax Impedance when Connected to Reactive Load
The 50 ohm characteristic impedance of my coax is only "characteristic" if it's terminated with $ 50 + 0j$ load. So when the coax is connected to an antenna that is fairly reactive like $ 23-...
- 291
4
votes
2
answers
225
views
DIY Short Vertical Wire Loaded Antenna: Using 20 Ohm Resister to Widen Q
I've been working with Xnec2c to model a 40 meter vertical antenna I want to build for field QRP. This antenna is short at 25 feet and uses a 1:1 unun at the base with 4 radials.
The model has the ...
- 291
1
vote
1
answer
84
views
Link budget validation for a UHF satellite ground station
I built a UHF satellite ground station. It has a yagi with G=16.1dBi and an LNA with G=20.1dB. It’s a 430 - 450 LNA with NF=0.68. The RF cable, rg174/u has I think close to a 1dB/m, which would mean ...
1
vote
1
answer
83
views
How is it possible for a halfwave dipole antenna to be resonant?
I've been learning about antennas recently and I have some questions about the halfwave dipole antenna.
My first question is about its resonance; as I understand it
everything that oscillates has a ...
- 113
2
votes
4
answers
206
views
Is an off-center fed dipole (and/or doublet) inherently unbalanced?
Does a balun/choke have to "work harder" in an off-center fed dipole than when the feedpoint is at the center? Or do the standing waves that develop keep the antenna balanced electrically ...
- 6,207
2
votes
3
answers
181
views
Why does an HF "monopole" need dozens and dozens of radials while a VHF/UHF "ground plane" antenna only needs four?
It's a bit counter-intuitive that for an HF vertical antenna (such as a quarter wave monopole) the best advice is to put as many radials and as close to the proper length as possible.
The typical VHF/...
- 6,207
0
votes
3
answers
131
views
ELF antenna receiver build instructions?
I built a vlf receiver in the nineties but good grief, that's a long time ago and have looked very little at receivers since.
I'm interested in frequencies from 12 - 18 Hz.
Looking at the following
...
- 101
9
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why are longer antennas not suitable to pick higher frequencies?
I know that the length of an antenna depends on the wavelength of the frequency it's trying to receive.
A higher frequency needs a shorter antenna and vice versa.
I can see that with a high frequency ...
- 203
1
vote
2
answers
117
views
Small shortwave (20MHz) directional antenna design
I'm trying to do some basic radio astronomy experiments, and I'm currently working on picking up radio bursts from Jupiter. These are emitted at around 20MHz; for all intents and purposes, Jupiter is ...
- 111
3
votes
4
answers
106
views
Is it worse to use an antenna tuner on an already-loaded short monopole?
If I had a good transmatch and wanted to use a spare CB antenna on the amateur HF bands, would I be better off bypassing its tuning coil completely?
One ham pastime is using an antenna tuner to match ...
- 6,207
1
vote
2
answers
152
views
Can fanned/parallel endfed antennas be used to get higher gain in some directions?
I have two pieces of antenna wire which are roughly 10 m long, with banana plugs at the ends, which I bring to hang in the trees when operating portable. I also bring a 49:1 unun and hopes that my ...
- 325
5
votes
2
answers
694
views
Is the original satellite dish "ruined" when a slot antenna is cut into it?
A fun vertical antenna can be made by cutting a horizontal slot in a satellite dish, as documented in e.g. http://www.w6nbc.com/articles/2016-3QSTdishslot.pdf and discussed in How does a slot antenna ...
- 6,207
2
votes
2
answers
151
views
Measuring actual feedpoint impedance for a given frequency
Background
I'm attempting to tune an antenna with my NanoVNAv2.
I calibrated it using the included open/short/(50-ohm)load standards by screwing them directly onto the NanoVNA one by one and running ...
- 381
2
votes
1
answer
189
views
How do phased array antennas work when they produce spot beams?
Background
In a lot of literature regarding satellite communications with phased arrays, you'd see this kind of image:
Conceptually, I get the basic concept of how this works - a bunch of small ...
- 45
0
votes
0
answers
21
views
Keysight ADS User-Defined Models to AWR/Virtuoso
everyone!
In ADS Keysight it is possible to create an item model - the so-called User-Defined Model.
This is C++ code that describes the Y-matrix of the component.
Is there the same possibility in AWR ...
2
votes
4
answers
113
views
What's the methodology of MDF magnetic field antenna?
I get a MDF 9400 magnetic field antenna from school.
I am not able to disassemble this flat antenna to take a picture.
I am not sure if this antenna detect only magnetic field.
I am not sure if ...
- 602
0
votes
3
answers
62
views
Follow Up on a previous question- Transmit antenna on HF band
I had asked a question in a previous segment and the link is provided below
Antenna Size limits at 2-30 MHz (10 m to 150 m wavelength)
I think i have some more clarity on the question I wanted to ask. ...
5
votes
5
answers
448
views
Does an antenna pick up signals of all frequencies or only its resonant frequency?
I heard that an antenna picks up signals of all frequencies, and then these signals are filtered by a circuit using an inductor and capacitor, and that this is how a radio is tuned.
However, I also ...
- 51
0
votes
0
answers
62
views
What is the differece of a large loop antenna and a small loop antenna in terms of their response to an electromagnetic wave?
there is something that I dont get. I read that a small loop Antenna (also called magnetic loop) responses more to the magnetic field than the large loops does. I was wondering why this is the case ...
- 61
6
votes
0
answers
63
views
How does Large Loop Antenna work physically?
I am learning about loop antennas at the moment. I read that the respone of a small loop Antenna is propotional to the rate of change of magnetic flux through the loop which causes a uniform current ...
- 61
3
votes
0
answers
92
views
Turnstile antennas with a "single-point feed": what's the antenna theory behind this, and how do I build/model it?
The conventional turnstile antenna uses a 1/4wl phasing line between the crossed elements, to get the required phase shift. 4nec2 includes an example file, though, of a circularly-polarized Yagi using ...
- 31
6
votes
2
answers
114
views
Power rating of a selfmade air coil
A colleague was winding an air coil himself. It's a 110µH coil with 200 windings for an 80m antenna, intended to be used on a 600 W transceiver. He used a copper lacquer wire with 0.6mm diameter. ...
- 325
3
votes
1
answer
97
views
Parameters needed to calculate inductor value to achieve proper phase delay?
I'm thinking about trying a coil in my collinear 5/8λ antenna, instead of the 3/8λ phasing delay line between the lower and upper elements pictured below.
I figure that a coil with a certain ...
- 163
2
votes
1
answer
131
views
Coupling Capacitor of an Antenna
I have a simple question about general meaning & importance
of the coupling capacitor in following part of
a simple receiver circuit:
Is it true that the proper reason why this
coupling capacitor ...
- 121
2
votes
3
answers
365
views
radials for 6 band Hustler vertical
I don't have room for quarter length radials for my Hustler 6 band vertical (10through 80 meters). Can I use 20 foot radials? If so, how many?
The hustler is a Hustler 6-BTV 6 band HF vertical ...
- 21
5
votes
5
answers
167
views
Antenna tuner at the transceiver output confusion
I am a bit confused. Let's take a HF transceiver for example.
My understanding is that the output impedance of the transmitter is 50 ohms. The impedance of the coaxial cable feedline is 50 ohms, and ...
- 558
3
votes
1
answer
112
views
Phasing stub length for colinear 5/8λ?
I've been designing a "Super J-Pole" for 10M in MMANA-GAL, but I'm designing it having two 5/8λ sections. However, I came across this picture: Various J-Poles types diagram indicating the ...
- 163
3
votes
2
answers
86
views
Impedance miss-match short vs long section?
Let's say there is a 50 Ohm transmission line coming from a transmitter, suddenly the transmission line is spliced into a 300 Ohm line. From what I've learned a partial reflection occurs at this point....
2
votes
1
answer
76
views
What is the signal of a receptor antenna irradiated with a plane wave?
Let's say there is a reception antenna connected to a detection system with a coax, and a transmitter sends a plane wave. What happens is that the antenna gets a certain power, following the [...
- 165
-1
votes
1
answer
171
views
Fractal antenna shapes that work for you? [closed]
I just answered this question, and I wanted to know if any particular shape has been found to be successful for anyone.
There seems to be a lot of research on IEEE that indicates that there should be ...
1
vote
2
answers
227
views
What is the minimum height required for a 60 meter NVIS antenna?
Various answers include 1/8th of the wavelength all the way down to 1/10th, but would 1/15th or even 1/20th of the wavelength be sufficient for a 60 meter (5 MHz) horizontal NVIS antenna?
- 43
5
votes
2
answers
207
views
Will a HF beam antenna on rooftop building interfere with other antennas there
I am moving into an apartment on the top floor of a building and I intend to install a HF beam antenna for 20 to 10 meters, on the rooftop of the building.
I notice that there are already some ...
- 558
4
votes
2
answers
113
views
Mounting a hex beam on top of a high urban building
I am moving into a new apartment in the city soon which is on the 24th and last floor of an apartment building. I will have access to the roof of the building also.
I'm still trying to understand ...
- 558
3
votes
2
answers
352
views
Mounting a vertical antenna on a fiberglass mast
I have a multiband SE-X80 HF vertical antenna which works ok from 20 meters to 10 meters with a tuner. It is attached to the railings of my apartment balcony at the moment. This is the antenna : https:...
- 558
0
votes
1
answer
57
views
Is the phase difference between the voltage and current of the standing wave on a dipole antenna constant along the dipole's length?
Everyone knows that a 1/2 λ dipole antenna has on it a standing wave of RF energy the voltage and current of which are about 90° out of phase with each other. The standing wave is circulating reactive ...
- 3,547
0
votes
2
answers
122
views
Why is there so little difference in the gains of Yagi Uda antennas with omnidirectional antennas? Shouldn't the power at the back be at the front?
Consider an omnidirectional antenna with X dBi gain. Intuitively I understand that the power that would have been dispersed in now-dead directions is directed around the antenna.
What I don't get is ...
- 133
3
votes
5
answers
1k
views
How do VHF antennas compensate for change in frequency in Frequency Modulation?
I would like to understand how antennas specifically, compensate for variability in the frequency while receiving FM waves in VHF. The way FM works is that the receiver system - receiver and antenna ...
- 169
2
votes
1
answer
106
views
Why don't the traveling waves on a dipole go back down the transmission line?
Why don't the traveling waves on a dipole go back down the transmission line ?
Why does the standing wave on a dipole stop at the feed point ?
- 3,547
3
votes
0
answers
61
views
Is this author correct about using a λ/2 of wire for a coil to get the proper delay on a λ/2 collinear antenna?
Is this author correct about using a λ/2 of wire for a coil to get the proper delay on a λ/2 collinear antenna?
Improving the Super-J
August 5, 2012 by John S. Huggins
I agree with him that there has ...
- 163
5
votes
5
answers
979
views
Grounding a vertical antenna from a balcony
I have a multiband vertical antenna mounted onto the railings of my balcony apartment high up on the 6th floor of an apartment building. The antenna is not grounded. This antenna comes without radials....
- 558
7
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Why are an antenna’s nulls sharper than its lobes?
Why, for realistic directional antennas, are its nulls sharper (deeper, narrower, etc.), than the radiation pattern’s lobes (local angular maxima)? Is there some physics or mathematical geometry to ...
- 12.6k
5
votes
2
answers
353
views
Can coax be run through the center of a radiating element without currents being induced on the coax shield?
I run a λ/2 vertical dipole for 20M that's fed to a 1.5:1 balun at its center with coax that is perpendicular to the dipole (parallel to the ground), for about 30 feet before it comes down to the ...
- 163
0
votes
3
answers
257
views
Does anyone know of a compact ELF wave transmit antenna I can buy or make?
I need to transmit frequencies as low as 1Hz and I know the wavelength is the speed of light but wondered if there has been any breakthroughs in this field? I need a handheld antenna or at least one ...
- 19
2
votes
4
answers
573
views
I'm looking for an effective beam antenna for both 20 meters and 10 meters
My favorite HF bands are 20 meters and 10 meters.
I am currently using a multi-band vertical antenna, but it's not so great for DX'ing. I am looking for a good upgrade.
I'm still learning a lot about ...
- 558