Quadrifilar Helix Antenna for Enhanced Air-to-Ground Communications

Abstract

A self-phased quadrifilar helix antenna is designed, simulated, fabricated and measured for use in Army air-to-ground and airborne-assisted ground-to-ground communication systems. The effect of the metallic ground plane provided by the aircraft fuselage is explored through simulation, and the ideal standoff distance from this ground plane to maximize realized gain is determined. The inclusion of radio frequency (RF) absorber material to shield the antenna from the metallic ground plane is also explored. Prototype antenna measurements are presented and compared with simulation results. The antenna operates very well over the intended TW-400 RF band, with a realized gain of ~4 to 4.5 dBiC and functional beamwidth of ~90 deg. to 110 deg..

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1008979

Entities

People

  • Seth A. Mccormick
  • Steven D. Keller
  • Theodore K. Anthony
  • William O. Coburn

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Airborne
  • Aircrafts
  • Alkenes
  • Antennas
  • Bandwidth
  • Cables
  • Circular Polarization
  • Coaxial Cables
  • Coefficients
  • Communication Systems
  • Fabrication
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Bands
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Models
  • Polarization
  • Prototypes
  • Radiation
  • Radiation Patterns
  • Radio Frequency
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Simulations

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Phased Array Antenna Design.
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.