ANTENNA NOTES 2


JOHN MATZ - 20 FEBRUARY 1997
... CONTINUATION ...

NOTICE THAT THE EXPRESSION

D =3D 2*K*R + (K*R)^2

IS SIMPLY MADE FROM TWO TERMS.

K*(2*R) IS THE GAIN OVER AN ISOTROPIC ANTENNA OF AN ENDFIRE ARRAY OF LENGTH 2*R, THAT WOULD FIT IN THE SPHERE OF RADIUS R. FOR EXAMPLE, IT IS THE GAIN OF A LONG YAGI ARRAY.

(K*R)^2 IS THE GAIN OVER AN ISOTROPIC ANTENNA OF A PARABOLOID OR HORN WHERE R IS THE RADIUS OF THE APERTURE.

IT SEEMS THAT ALL STANDARD ANTENNAS WOULD BE COVERED BY THIS EQUATION ... AND WE ARE NOT FAR FROM THESE LIMITS SINCE HORNS AND PARABOLOIDS ARE 45% TO 85% APERTURE EFFICIENT AND LONG YAGIS ARE USUALLY BETWEEN 80% AND 250% OF THE GAIN PREDICTED FROM THEIR LENGTH BY 2*K*R.

NOTE THAT FOR ENDFIRE ARRAYS, THERE ARE TWO STANDARD CONDITIONS. ONE IS THAT THE GAIN IS K*(2*R) OR K*(BOOMLENGTH). THIS IS THE =D2NORMAL GAIN=D3 CASE. THE OTHER IS THAT THE GAIN IS 2*K*(2*R) OR 2*K*(BOOMLENGTH), THE =D2INCREASED GAIN=D3 CASE. BOTH ARE ALLOWED, WITH THE GAIN DIFFERENCE BEING 3 DB.

PUSHING THE GAIN TO MORE THAN THAT PREDICTED BY THE LENGTH SHOULD RESULT IN A =D2SUPER-GAIN=D3 ARRAY WITH HIGHER Q REQUIRED FROM THE ELEMENTS AND A NARROWER BANDWIDTH.

NOTE THAT YAGIS ARE USUALLY MADE OF HALF-WAVE ELEMENTS AND SHOULD HAVE THE GAIN OF A HALF-WAVE DIPOLE (2.14 DBI) ADDED TO THE ENDFIRE GAIN (DBI) ... UNLESS THE GAIN IS SPECIFIED AS OVER A HALF-WAVE DIPOLE (DBD). ( FOR CONVENIENCE, ONLY.)


JEM - 20 FEB 97