Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Antenna directivity is the ratio of maximum radiation intensity (power per unit surface) radiated by the antenna in the maximum direction divided by the intensity radiated by a hypothetical isotropic antenna radiating the same total power as that antenna. For example, a hypothetical antenna which had a radiated pattern of a hemisphere (1/2 ...
This will often be a half-wave dipole, a very well understood and repeatable antenna that can be easily built for any frequency. The directive gain of a half-wave dipole with respect to the isotropic radiator is known to be 1.64 and it can be made nearly 100% efficient.
As frequency increases, the directivity of an antenna of a given physical size will increase. In order to keep receiver antenna directivity constant in the formula, the antenna size must be reduced, and a smaller size antenna results in less power being received as it is able to capture less power with a smaller area.
This result could be further generalized if we allow the integral over frequency to be more general. Then we find that A eff for the same antenna must vary with frequency according to that same formula, using λ = c/f. Moreover, the integral over solid angle can be generalized for an antenna that is not isotropic (that is, any real antenna).
The frequency range or bandwidth over which an antenna functions well can be very wide (as in a log-periodic antenna) or narrow (as in a small loop antenna); outside this range the antenna impedance becomes a poor match to the transmission line and transmitter (or receiver).
Applying the above formula to the 25-meter-diameter antennas often used in radio telescope arrays and satellite ground antennas at a wavelength of 21 cm (1.42 GHz, a common radio astronomy frequency), yields an approximate maximum gain of 140,000 times or about 52 dBi (decibels above the isotropic level).
Using the antenna at around that frequency is advantageous in terms of feedpoint impedance (and thus standing wave ratio), so its length is determined by the intended wavelength (or frequency) of operation. [2] The most commonly used is the center-fed half-wave dipole which is just under a half-wavelength long.
A discone is exceptionally wideband, offering a frequency range ratio of up to approximately 10:1 , over three octaves above the antenna's lowest frequency, but otherwise only functions just as well as other quarter-wave monopoles: It is omnidirectional, vertically polarized, equally efficient as a monopole, and has gain similar to a ground ...