Design and Fabrication of an Axial Mode Helical Antenna
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Design and Fabrication of an Axial Mode Helical AntennaAbstract
Given generalized requirements for a medium gain circularly polarized (CP) antenna we design and fabricate an axial mode helical antenna. This well known antenna has a relatively wide (1.7:1) bandwidth with gain proportional to the overall length. The antenna and ground plane diameters are determined by the chosen center frequency of operation. We evaluate the antenna design using FEKO electromagnetic simulation software for a center frequency of 700 MHz. We then fabricate one prototype with center metal rod support and foam core as in the conventional construction. We also desire a hollow core variant and use fiberglass to support the helical antenna. We present the measured results for these two types of construction compared to model results. Although the helical antenna embedded in fiberglass is a very rugged design it also involves sufficient dielectric loading to shift the antenna bandwidth to lower frequencies.
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