Antennas Demystified

Scott Honaker
N7WLO

Importance of Antennas

Antennas are as important as the radio

A $5000 TV with rabbit ears will have a lousy
picture
Antennas are cheaper than amplifiers
Antennas are reciprocal they hear as well as
they talk

Choosing Antennas

Frequency Dictates size

Mounting location Base or mobile
Omni or directional Coverage or gain
Polarization Horizontal, vertical, circular
Resonant or non-resonant Tuner required?
Power available
Feedline length and type
Cost

dBi vs. dBd

dBi - Gain vs. Isotropic Resonator

dBd - Gain vs. Reference Dipole

Isotropic Resonator is infinitely small antenna with

no feedline in free space radiating equally well in
all directions (spherical pattern)
Gain referenced to a real dipole antenna with a
donut-like pattern

dBd = dBi + 2.15 dB

Gain/Loss Calculations

ERP (Effective Radiated Power) is the real number

to consider
Gain uses a Log-10 scale

3dB = 2-fold improvement

6dB = 4-fold improvement
10dB = 10-fold improvement
20dB = 100-fold improvement

ERP=Power x (Gain - Feedline Loss)

Radiation Patterns

Visual representation of gain,

beamwidth, F/B ratio and F/S
ratio in one plane
E-Plane is crosssection that includes
driven element
H-Plane is
perpendicular to
driven element

Dipole Patterns

Yagi Patterns
E-Plane

H-Plane

Polarization

SSB/CW is generally horizontal

FM is generally vertical
Satellites can be circular - RHCP, LHCP
Polarization loss can be significant at
VHF/UHF and microwaves
Bounced signals can change polarization
Verticals are more susceptible to QRM

Antenna Design Considerations

Gain, SWR, Bandwidth, Front/Back ratio are

related and optimum values are not achieved
simultaneously for each
Does antenna have power going in desired
direction? Gain/Beamwidth

SWR Power Losses

All power fed into the line, minus the line

attenuation, is absorbed into the load (antenna)
regardless of the mismatch at the antenna
terminals
Line attenuation (loss) is the key factor in
determining losses due to mismatched
antennas (high SWR)

SWR Loss Examples

SWR losses are added to

line attenuation for total loss
values
100 RG-58 @ 20 meters,
50 RG-8x @ 2 meters,
50 Belden 9913 @ 70cm
have nearly identical
attenuation of 1.5dB

SWR SWR Losses

1.0:1 0dB
1.5:1 0dB
2.0:1 0.2dB or 5%
3.0:1 0.6dB or 13%
5.0:1 1.5dB or 29%
10:1

3.0dB or 50%

Loading

Inductive loads base, center, top

Screwdriver antennas (adjustable loading)

Hamstick-style antennas
Hustler center-loaded
whips
Rubber HT antennas

Capacitance Hats

Texas Bugcatcher
Cushcraft MA5B

Ground Plane Verticals

wave is omnidirectional with unity (0dBd) gain

when provided a proper ground plane
wave is unity gain with no ground plane and
3dBd with ground plane
5/8 wave is 3.5dBd gain with nice omni pattern
and low radiation angle
Longer antennas have more omni patterns with
asymmetric ground planes (vehicles) and lower
radiation angles (see below)

wave

wave

5/8 wave

Ground Planes

Perfect ground plane from 120 evenly

spaced radials at least wave in length
Wire mesh or wire from #12 to #28, above or a
few inches below the ground work fine
Elevated feeds (1/8 or more above ground)
can use four -wave radials
Vehicles provide poor ground planes at HF but
elevating the feedpoint reduces loss

Imperfect Ground Planes

Number of radials
Length of radials in
wavelengths
Total wire installed in
wavelengths
Power loss relative to
perfect ground
plane

16
0.1

Feedpoint impedance
in ohms

24
0.125

36
0.15

60
0.2

1.6 3

5.4

1.5

90
0.2
5
12 22.
5
1 0.5

52

46

43

40 37

120
0.4

35

48
n/a

Other Verticals

Discone

Wide usable frequency range

SWR ~2:1 for fundamental
through second harmonic
SWR ~3:1 for remainder of
coverage
Omnidirectional Unity gain

Inverted-L

2-3 dBd gain with vertical and

horizontal components
Requires ground plane

Balanced Feed Designs

Dipole
Simple and effective
Vertical or horizontal polarization

Loop
Full wave has 3dBd gain
Circular, Quad (square) or Delta (triangular) design

E and H-plane patterns vary with height above ground

Dipole Types

Sloper

Inverted-V

Has 3dB to 6dB of directivity

toward slope
Single high mount, internal angle
should be >90 degrees

Bent

Good attic antenna

Keep center section straight
Remainder of element can bend or
curve to fit

Dipole Types Cont.

Folded

Caged

High impedance needs

open wire feed
Same overall size as wave
dipole but contains 1 wave of wire for nearly 3 dBd gain
Standard dipole with each leg made up of multiple wires around
spacers forming a wire tube
Larger effective element diameter increases bandwidth

Extended Double Zepp

Two 0.64 elements provide 3dBd gain

Multiband Dipoles

Multiple

Multiple dipoles/loops at a single feed

Trap
Traps are tuned circuits used to generate multiple
resonances on a single wire
Traps cause loss and decrease bandwidth

G5RV
Non-resonant tuner required
Radiation patterns vary with frequency

Off-Center Fed Dipoles

Feedline attached 1/3 the length from the end

Same wave overall size
Resonates at even harmonics, so 1 antenna can be
used on 80m, 40m and 20m
6th harmonic (15m) has too high impedance
Asymmetric impedance may cause current in the
shack
Requires 4:1 or 6:1 current-type balun to match

Other Multibanders

Random wire
Can be any length of wire
Requires tuner
Works against earth ground

Windom
T shape single wire feed attached 14% off center
Works against earth ground
RF in the shack is a potential problem

Wire Arrays

Half Square

Bi-square

Vertical polarization with bidirectional 5.8 dBd gain

Sterba Curtain

Horizontal polarization with ~3.5dBd gain

Bobtail Curtain

Vertical polarization with up to 3.8dBd gain

Horizontal polarization from multiple phased loops

Lazy H Four element broadside array

Greater than 6dBd gain possible

Yagis

wave dipole driven element

Reflectors are 5% larger
Directors are 5% smaller
Number of elements and boom length
determine gain
SWR, bandwidth, gain, boom length and
front/back ratios all have to be considered

Typical Yagi Gains

10m yagi with

SWR <2:1 and
Front/Back
>20dB

Numbers are
rounded to
nearest 0.5 dB

Elements Gain dBi Gain dBd

3

7.5

5.5

8.5

6.5

10

11.5

9.5

12.5

10.5

13.5

11.5

Hybrid Yagis

Quad
1 loop driven element, reflector and directors
Up to 3dBd gain over standard yagi
Wider bandwidth than standard yagi

Quagi
Loop reflector and driven element
Simpler to feed and match at UHF

Looper

Entirely loop (generally circular) elements

Log Periodic

Constant characteristics over

wide band (2:1)
Several varieties but hams
generally use dipole array
(LPDA)
All elements are driven
Gain similar to 3 element
yagi 7dBi, 5dBd
Size similar to 3 element
yagi at lowest frequency

Reflecting Antennas

Corner reflector
Practical size at 222 MHz and up
Simple to construct, broadbanded, gains 10-15dBd

Pyramidal Horn
Practical at 902 MHz and up
Sides of horn are fed for up to 15 dBi, 13dBd gain

Parabolic dish

Gain is a function of reflector diameter, surface

accuracy and illumination

Parabolic Dish Gain

MHz

420

10

20

30

6.0dBi 12.0

15.5

20.0

26.0

29.5

902

12.5

18.5

22.0

26.5

32.5

36.0

1215

15.0

21.0

24.5

29.0

35.0

38.5

2300

20.5

26.5

30.0

34.5

40.5

44.0

3300

24.0

30.0

33.5

37.5

41.5

47.5

5650

28.5

34.5

38.0

42.5

46.0

52.0

10Ghz 33.5

39.5

43.0

47.5

51.0

57.0