ELE 15 Transmission Media and Antenna Systems, Lecture

Topic: Antenna Systems

This module tackles the Antenna Systems, which includes its fundamentals, parameters, and
basic types. This also contains sample solved problems as well as practice problems as
exercise.

Definition of Antenna
An antenna, or aerial as it is sometimes called, is one or more electrical conductors of a
specific length that radiate radio waves generated by a transmitter or that collect radio waves
at the receiver. Basically, it is a transducer that converts electrical alternating current
oscillations at a given radio frequency to an electromagnetic wave of the same frequency.

Note that a radio wave is generally electromagnetic wave because it is made up of both
electric and magnetic fields.

Electric field will be set up whenever voltage is applied to the antenna. In the same instance,
current will be caused to flow through the antenna due to that applied voltage and produces
magnetic field. Magnetic and electric fields are perpendicular to each other. They are emitted
from the antenna and propagate through space over long distances.

A complete antenna system consists of three parts:

1. Coupling Device – connects the transmitter to the feeder.
2. Feeder – the transmission line that carries energy to the antenna.
3. Antenna – it radiates the energy into space.

Antenna has two characteristics:

1. Passive
2. Reciprocal
Antenna Reciprocity – states that antenna characteristics and parameters are
essentially the same regardless whether an antenna is transmitting or receiving
electromagnetic energy.
Antenna Parameters:
1. Radiation Pattern – A polar diagram or graph representing field strengths or power
densities at various angular positions relative to an antenna.
2. Antenna Polarization – This refers to the direction of electric field. If the electric field
is parallel to the earth, the electromagnetic wave is said to be horizontally polarized.
However, if it is perpendicular to the earth, the electromagnetic wave is said to be
vertically polarized.
3. Antenna Length
𝜆
𝐿=
2
𝜆
𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑓 = (0.95)
2

Sample Problem:
What is the actual length of an antenna that operates at a frequency of 45 MHz?
Calculate also its effective length.

Solution:
Solving for its actual length,
𝑐 3 × 108
𝜆 𝑓 6
𝐿 = = = 45 × 10
2 2 2
𝑳 = 𝟑. 𝟑𝟑 𝒎
Solving for its effective length,
𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝐿(0.95)
𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑓 = (3.33)(0.95)
𝑳𝒆𝒇𝒇 = 𝟑. 𝟏𝟕 𝒎

4. Near Field and Far Field Region

a. Near Field (Induction Field or Fresnel Field) – this refers to the field pattern that
is close to the antenna
𝐴 𝜋𝐷2
𝐹𝑁 = =
2𝜆 8𝜆

b. Far Field (Radiation Field of Fraunhofer Field) – this refers to the field pattern that
is at great distance from the antenna where power that reach this region
continues to radiate outward and is never returned to the antenna.
2𝐷2
𝐹𝐹 =
𝜆

5. Radiation Resistance – is a resistance that, if replaced the antenna, would dissipate

exactly the same amount of power the antenna radiates.
Antenna Efficiency (η)
𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑑 𝑅𝑟𝑎𝑑
𝜂= × 100% = × 100%
𝑃𝑇 𝑅𝑟𝑎𝑑 + 𝑅𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠
6. Antenna Gain
a. Directive Gain – refers to the ratio of the power density in the favored direction
the power density of an isotropic source.
𝑃𝑑(𝑑𝑖𝑟)
𝐷=
𝑃𝑑(𝑖𝑠𝑜)

b. Power Gain – the ratio between the amounts of energy propagated in these
directions compared to the energy that would be propagated if the antenna were
not directional is known as its gain.
𝐺 =𝐷×η

Sample Problem:
Calculate the gain of a certain antenna relative to a dipole antenna with a power gain
of 5.3 dB with respect to an isotropic radiator. Also compute for the power gain if
the dipole antenna has 67-ohm radiation resistance and 5-ohm loss resistance at the
feed point. What is its dissipated power if it transmits 100 W?

Solution:
Solving first for its directive gain,
𝐷𝑑𝐵𝑑 = 𝐷𝑑𝐵𝑖 − 2.14 𝑑𝐵
= 5.3 − 2.14
𝑫𝒅𝑩𝒅 = 𝟑. 𝟏𝟔 𝒅𝑩𝒅
Solving for its power gain,
𝐺 =𝐷×η
The efficiency will be solved using,
𝑅𝑟𝑎𝑑
𝜂=
𝑅𝑟𝑎𝑑 + 𝑅𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠
67
= = 𝟎. 𝟗𝟑𝟎𝟓 𝒐𝒓 𝟗𝟑. 𝟎𝟓%
67 + 5
Hence, the power gain is,

3.16
𝐺 = log −1 ( ) × 0.9305
10
𝑮 = 𝟏. 𝟗𝟑 = 𝟐. 𝟖𝟓 𝒅𝑩𝒊
Solving for the dissipated power,
𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑑
𝜂=
𝑃𝑖𝑛
𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑑
0.9305 = ;𝑃 = 93.05 𝑊
100 𝑟𝑎𝑑
𝑃𝑇 = 𝑃𝑑𝑖𝑠 + 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑑 ; 𝑃𝑑𝑖𝑠 = 𝟔. 𝟗𝟓 𝑾
7. Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) - EIRP is defined as equivalents transmit
power that an isotropic antenna would have to radiate to achieve the same power
density in the chosen direction at a given point as another antenna.
𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃 = 𝑃𝑡𝑥 𝐺𝑡𝑥 = 𝑃𝑡𝑥(𝑑𝐵) + 𝐺𝑡𝑥(𝑑𝐵)
8. Effective Radiated Power (ERP) - the total power radiated by an actual antenna
relative to a half-wave dipole rather than a theoretical isotropic antenna.
𝐸𝑅𝑃𝑑𝐵 = 𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃𝑑𝐵 − 2.14 𝑑𝐵
Sample Problem:
Solve for the EIRP in dB and ERP in dB from the previous example.

Solution:
Solving for the EIRP,
𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃 = 𝑃𝑡𝑥 𝐺𝑡𝑥
= (100 𝑊)(1.93) = 193 𝑊
𝑬𝑰𝑹𝑷𝒅𝑩 = 𝟐𝟐. 𝟖𝟔 𝒅𝑩
Solving for ERP,
𝐸𝑅𝑃𝑑𝐵 = 𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃𝑑𝐵 − 2.14 𝑑𝐵
= 22.86 𝑑𝐵 − 2.14 𝑑𝐵
𝑬𝑹𝑷𝒅𝑩 = 𝟐𝟎. 𝟕𝟐 𝒅𝑩
9. Effective Area and Captured Power – effective captured area is the product of the
physical aperture area and aperture efficiency.
𝐺𝜆2
𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 =
4𝜋
𝑃𝑐𝑎𝑝 = 𝑃𝐷 𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝑃𝑡 𝐺𝑡
𝑃𝐷 =
4𝜋𝑑 2
𝑃𝑐𝑎𝑝 = 𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃𝑑𝐵 − 𝐹𝑆𝐿𝑑𝐵 + 𝐺𝑟𝑥(𝑑𝐵)
Sample Problem:
Calculate the captured power 10 km away from a half-wave dipole transmitter
with 10 W transmit power for an Hertzian dipole antenna at a frequency of 150
MHz.

Solution:
Solving for power density,
𝑃𝑡 𝐺𝑡 (10)(1.64) 𝑛𝑊
𝑃𝐷 = = = 13.051
4𝜋𝑑 2 (4𝜋)(10 × 103 )2 𝑚2
Solving for the effective area,
2
3 × 108
𝐺𝜆 2 (1.5) ( )
150 × 106
𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 = = = 0.477 𝑚2
4𝜋 4𝜋
Hence, the captured area,
𝑃𝑐𝑎𝑝 = 𝑃𝐷 𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 = (13.051)(0.477)
𝑷𝒄𝒂𝒑 = 𝟔. 𝟐𝟑𝟏 𝒏𝑾
 10. Front-to-Back Ratio – The ratio of the energy radiated in the principal direction
compared to the energy radiated in the opposite direction for a given antenna.
11. Antenna Beamwidth – The angular separation between the two half-power points on
the major lobe of an antenna’s plane radiation pattern.

Basic Types of Antenna:

1. Elementary Doublet – is an electrically short dipole and is often referred to simply as
Hertzian dipole. Its unitless gain is 1.5.
Field Strength at a distance:
60𝜋𝐼𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝜉=
𝜆𝑑
where:
ξ is the induced field strength in V/m
I = antenna current in A
Leff = effective antenna length in m
d = distance from the antenna in m

2. Half-wave Dipole – is a resonant antenna, the total length of which is nominally λ/2
at the carrier frequency. Its unitless gain is 1.64.
3. Quarter-wave (Marconi or Long-wire) Antenna – is basically a half-wave dipole
placed vertically, with the “other half” of the dipole being the ground.

Special Types of Antenna:

1. Folded Dipole Antenna – is essentially a single antenna made up of two elements. One
element is fed directly (driven element), whereas the other is conductively (parasitic
element) coupled at the ends.
2. Yagi - Uda Antenna – is a linear array consisting of a dipole and two or more parasitic
elements.
λ
𝐿𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 =
2
0.95λ
𝐿𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
2
1.05λ
𝐿𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
2

3. Turnstile Antenna – is formed by placing two dipoles at right angles to each other, 90°
out of phase. The radiation pattern is the sum of the radiation patterns from the two
dipoles, which produces a nearly omnidirectional pattern.
4. Loop Antenna – is an antenna where its conductor is formed into one or more turns
so its end are close together.
5. Helical Antenna - A circularly polarized antenna that is wound into a helix.
Formula for its Gain,
15𝑁𝑆(𝜋𝐷)2
𝐺=
λ3
where:
N is number of turns
 S is pitch or spacing
D is helix diameter

Formula for its 3dB Beamwidth,

52λ λ
𝜑= √
πD NS
At optimum operation,
λ
𝐷=
π
λ
𝑆=
4

6. Parabolic Antenna – a form of a dish antenna with a reflecting surface that is a

geometric paraboloid.
Formula for its Gain,
𝜋𝐷 2
𝐺 = 𝜂( )
λ
Formula for its Beamwidth,
70λ
𝜑=
D

7. Horn Antenna – is tapered termination of a length of waveguide that provides the

impedance transformation between waveguide and free space impedance.
Formula for its Gain,
7.5𝑑𝐸 𝐷𝐻
𝐺=
λ2
Formula for its Beamwidth,
56λ
𝜑𝐸 =
dE
70λ
𝜑𝐻 =
dH