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

SW
R
1.0:
1
1.5:
1
2.0:
1
3.0:
1
5.0:

SWR Losses
0dB
0dB
0.2dB or 5%
0.6dB or
13%
1.5dB or

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 24

36

60 90 12
0
0.1 0.12 0.1 0. 0.2 0.4
5
5
2 5
1.6 3
5.4 12 22. 48
5
3

1.5 1

0.5 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

Elemen
ts
3
4
5
Numbers are
6
rounded to
nearest 0.5
7
dB
8

10m yagi
with SWR
<2:1 and
Front/Back
>20dB

Gain
dBi
7.5
8.5
10
11.5
12.5
13.5

Gain
dBd
5.5
6.5
8
9.5
10.5
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 1015dBd

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 2
420 6.0d
Bi
902 12.5
1215 15.0
2300 20.5
3300 24.0
5650 28.5
10Gh 33.5
z

4
12.0

6
15.5

10
20.0

20
26.0

30
29.5

18.5
21.0
26.5
30.0
34.5
39.5

22.0
24.5
30.0
33.5
38.0
43.0

26.5
29.0
34.5
37.5
42.5
47.5

32.5
35.0
40.5
41.5
46.0
51.0

36.0
38.5
44.0
47.5
52.0
57.0