Antenna Fundamentals Parameters

Part-3
 Outline
Revise Last Class Points

Impedance

Polarization
Revise Last Class Points
 Impedance
What is Impedance?

Let's start with a basic definition of impedance. We should first

think about electrical resistance (represented by R), measured

in Ohms (symbol (omega)). Imagine a simple circuit consisting

of a battery and a resistor. The battery generates a voltage

which tries to force a current around the circuit connected

between the battery's two terminals. The resistor resists that

current the higher the value of the resistor, the lower the
 This important phenomenon is defined mathematically
in Ohm's Law, where the battery voltage (represented
by V and measured in Volts) equals the current
(represented by I and measured in Amps) multiplied by
the resistor's resistance value. Expressing this law
algebraically, V=IR, a simple bit of algebraic
rearrangement gives I=V/R. So if the battery is 12V and
the resistor is 120(omega), the current flowing around
the circuit will be 12V/120(omega), which is 0.1A, or
100mA. Is the measure of the opposition to the passage
 This simple example is of a Direct Current (DC) circuit
the battery voltage is steady and unchanging (ignoring
the effect of the battery losing energy over time).
However, when we are dealing with audio electronics,
the signal voltage changes amplitude continuously to
represent the changing amplitude of the audio signal,
and it alternates between positive and negative cycles.
The currents that flow therefore have varying
amplitudes and alternate in direction as well, and we
have what is known generically as an Alternating
 This is where things become slightly more complex,
because, in addition to the resistance, there are two
other fundamental components which affect the
current flowing around an AC circuit.

In addition to the simple resistance we have already

discussed, there is also capacitance and inductance to
consider.

In simplistic terms these also act like resistors, except

that their resistance to current changes in proportion
 we often consider the total 'resistance' of a complex
circuit involving resistors, capacitors and inductors as a
composite lump, and that's what we call the

impedance.
Impedance consists :
resistance and reactance.
 As an example, a complex impedance consisting of 4
ohms of resistance and +j5 ohms of inductive reactance
is denoted as a vector from the origin to the point on
the plane corresponding to 4 +j5.
Resistance appears on the horizontal
axis, moving toward the right ,
Inductive reactance appears on the
positive imaginary axis, moving
upward. Capacitive reactance is
depicted on the negative imaginary
axis Z =R+jX
RL L,
ZRC = R jXC
ZRLC =R+jXL jXC
 In electronics, a measurement of zero ohms means that
there is no resistance, while a measurement of infinite
ohms indicates that there is complete resistance. The
antenna impedance would be zero ohms if the voltage
and the current stayed the same from one point in the
antenna to another. This is never the case in real-world
antennas
 Let's say an antenna has an impedance of 50 ohms. This means
that if a sinusoidal voltage is applied at the antenna terminals
with an amplitude of 1 Volt, then the current will have an
amplitude of 1/50 = 0.02 Amps. Since the impedance is a real
number, the voltage is in-phase with the current.

Alternatively, suppose the impedance is given by a complex

number, say Z=50 + j*50 ohms.
Note that "j" is the square root of -1. Imaginary numbers are there to give
phase information. If the impedance is entirely real [Z=50 + j*0], then the
voltage and current are exactly in time-phase. If the impedance is entirely
 If the antenna is not matched, the input impedance
will vary widely with the length of the transmission
line. And if the input impedance isn't well matched to
the source impedance, not very much power will be
delivered to the antenna. This power ends up being
reflected back to the generator, which can be a
problem in itself (especially if high power is
transmitted). This loss of power is known
asimpedance mismatch. Hence, we see that having a
 VSWR
We see that an antenna's impedance is important for
minimizing impedance-mismatch loss. A poorly matched
antenna will not radiate power. This can be somewhat
alleviated viaimpedance matching, although this doesn't
always work over a sufficient bandwidth (bandwidth is the
next topic).

A common measure of how well matched the antenna is to

the transmission line or receiver is known as the Voltage
 As an example of common VSWR values, a VSWR of 3.0
indicates about 75% of the power is delivered to the antenna
(1.25 dB of mismatch loss); a VSWR of 7.0 indicates 44% of the
power is delivered to the antenna (3.6 dB of mismatch loss). A
VSWR of 6 or more is pretty high and will generally need to be
improved.

The parameter VSWR sounds like an overly complicated

concept; however, power reflected by an antenna on a
transmission line interferes with the forward travelling power -
and this creates a standing voltage wave - which can be
 The parameterVSWRis a measure that numerically describes
how well the antenna is impedance matched to the radio or
transmission line it is connected to.
VSWR stands for Voltage Standing Wave Ratio, and is also
referred to as Standing Wave Ratio (SWR). VSWR is a function
of the reflection coefficient, which describes the power
reflected from the antenna.

The VSWR is always a real and positive number for antennas.

The smaller the VSWR is, the better the antenna is matched to
the transmission line and the more power is delivered to the
antenna. The minimum VSWR is 1.0. In this case, no power is
reflected from the antenna, which is ideal.
 Polarization
The polarization of an antenna is the polarization of
the wave radiated by the antenna. At a given position,
the polarization describes the orientation of the
electric field.
Types of polarization
Linear
Horizontal
Vertical
Circular

18
 The electric field or "E" plane determines the
polarization or orientation of the radio wave. In general,
most antennas radiate either linear or circular
polarization.
A linear polarized antenna radiates wholly in one plane
containing the direction of propagation. In a circular
polarized antenna, the plane of polarization rotates in a
circle making one complete revolution during one period
of the wave. If the rotation is clockwise looking in the
direction of propagation, the sense is called right-hand-
circular (RHC). If the rotation is counterclockwise, the
sense is called left-hand-circular (LHC).
vertically polarized
An antenna is said to be vertically polarized (linear)
when its electric field is perpendicular to the Earth's
surface

Horizontally polarized
antennas have their electric field parallel to
the Earth's surface
 Vertical Or Horizontal Polarization
All nodes must be the same polarization
Cancellation of signal if mismatched
Vertical Polarization for Most Radio Applications
No Horizontal Polarization of Omni-Directional

Omni-directional
Directional Antenna Antenna Vertical
Vertical Polarized Polarized
Typical Applications

Vertical polarization is most often used when it is desired to

radiate a radio signal in all directions such as widely distributed
mobile units. Vertical polarization also works well in the suburbs
or out in the country, especially where hills are present.
Horizontal polarization is used to broadcast television in the USA.
Some say that horizontal polarization was originally chosen
because there was an advantage to not have TV reception
interfered with by vertically polarized stations such as mobile
radio. Also, man made radio noise is predominantly vertically
polarized and the use of horizontal polarization would provide
some discrimination against interference from noise.
 Circular polarization is most often use on satellite
communications.
due to the position of the Earth with respect to the
satellite, geometric differences may vary especially if
the satellite appears to move with respect to the fixed
Earth bound station. Circular polarization will keep the
signal constant
 Polarization Mismatch

Polarization Mismatch
In order to transfer maximum power between a transmit
and a receive antenna, both antennas must have the
same spatial orientation, the same
polarization sense.
When the antennas are not aligned or do not have the
same polarization, there will be a reduction in power
transfer between the two antennas.
This reduction in power transfer will reduce the overall
system efficiency and performance.