Standard linear antennas, 30 to 1000 MHz

Abstract

It is demonstrated that the insertion loss between pairs of thin, linear antennas may be calculated using fairly simple equations that are generally considered to be good engineering approximations. Although the insertion loss calculation does not involve antenna gain directly (some measurements are actually made in the near-field where gain is not defined), the result is precisely the quantity obtained using the antenna gains in Friis's transmission formula, assuming the mismatch losses are zero. Therefore, the antenna gain product is implicit in the more general insertion loss equations. The particular measurement of insertion loss used here yields a quantity called site attenuation by electromagnetic compatibility engineers. A close agreement between measured and calculated data provides confidence in the site attenuation calculations when the site is essentially perfect, and provides confidence in the gain product of the antenna pair calculated using basically the same equations as those used for insertion loss. It is assumed that one-half of the mean value of the difference between the calculated and measured data is a good estimate of individual antenna performance. For the antennas described here, this measure of performance is typically \lE0.05 dB and on the outside, \iE0.42 dB.