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Old August 8th 08, 08:51 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Joel Koltner[_2_] Joel Koltner[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Dec 2007
Posts: 133
Default Phase array question

"Roy Lewallen" wrote in message
treetonline...
Not by a long shot! Here's a simple example from the EZNEC demo program,
using example file Cardioid.EZ. It's a two element array of quarter
wavelength vertical elements spaced a quarter wavelength apart and fed with
equal currents in quadrature to produce a cardioid pattern. The impedance of
a single isolated element is 36.7 + j1.2 ohms. In the array, the impedances
are 21.0 - j18.7 and 51.6 + j20.9 ohms, and the elements require 29 and 71
percent of the applied power respectively in order to produce equal fields.
The deviation is due to mutual coupling.


That's a much, much greater difference than I would have guessed. Wow...

Isn't the input impedance of one element affected not only by the relative
position of the other element, but also how it's driven? I.e., element #1
"sees" element #2 and couples to it, but how much coupling occurs depends on
whether the input of element #2 is coming from a 50 ohm generator vs. a 1 ohm
power amplifier (close to a voltage source), etc.? (Essentially viewing the
antennas as loosely coupled transformers, where the transformer terminations
get reflected back to the "primary.")

Thanks for the book links. Do you happen to have a copy of "Small Antenna
Design" by Douglas Miron? And have an opinion about it? Or some other book
on electrically small antennas? (Not phased arrays, though :-) -- more like
octave bandwidth VHF or UHF antennas that are typically 1/10-1/40 lambda in
physical size.)

---Joel