Radio Antenna Engineering EDMUND A. LAPORT Chief Engineer, ROA International Division Radio Corporation of America Senior Menber, Lnstitute of Radio Engineers Pins yDITTON McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. New York ‘Toronto London 1952INNA BNGINEFRING Copyright, 1952, by the MeGraw-Hill Book Company, Tne. Printed in the Canta States of America. AIL rights reserve. This book, oF parts thereof, wot be reptoduced in any form without perinission of the publishers RADIO AN 1228 rary of Congress Catalog Cant Number Preface ‘Antenna engineering has developed into a highly specialized field of radio engineering which in turn is subdivided into many special branches. This treatise will deal with antennas made of wires, masts, and towers for fre~ quencies up to about 30 megacycles, Antennas for higher frequencies are nowadays factory-designed and factory-built, and the operating and plant engineers are relieved of the design problems. ‘There is u very extensive experience with antennas within our range of interest, but unfortunately there is only a relatively small amount of pub- lished material on techniques. In contrast, there is a vast literature on antenna and radiation theory. It is the purpose of this book to attempt, to compile a sufficiont amount of useful engineering information to enable nonspecialists to handle many of the ordinary antenna problems that arise in point-to-point, ground-to-air, and military communications, and in broadcasting. Some of the more advanced antenna designs suggested by very-high-frequency and ultrahigh-frequeney techniques are included hecause the day is approaching when these principles will have to be ‘applied at the lower frequencies as the spectrum conditions become more difficult. ‘Transmission lines are inseparably related to antennas, so a chapter on this subject is included, together with a chapter on impedance-matching networks. ‘An author of a book on techniques is confronted with many difficult situations beeause he must try to convey a sense of judgment in significant values and wise compromise in the presence of the many empirical condi- tions that surround each individual problem. ‘The successful solution of an engineering problem involves many arbitrary decisions and is largely ‘a matter of personal ingenuity and resourcefulness in applying sound elec- trical and mechanical principles. For that reason some of our statements ‘made in the discussion of the various topies should not be interpreted too rigorously. Our intention has been to provide a certain amount of guid- ing counsel for those who need it even though it was necessary to over- simplify to some extent. There are three basie aspects of antonna engineering, The first per-“ PREFACE tains to radiation charaeterinties aud includes all matters of the distribus round an antenna system, as well as the jon of radiant energy’ in space cumrent distributions that produce the radiation pattern pertains to antenna circuitry and involves such matters ax self> and pratt impedances, currents, potentials, insulation, and feeder systems that will yield the desired current distributions. Third there is the struc tural engineering which has to do with all the mechanical details of sup- ports rigging, materials, strengths, weights, hardware, assembly, adjustar bility, stability, and maintenance. While each aspect must be separately doveloped, the final design must be an integration of the three, with & minimum of compromise and within reasonable economic limits. “The purpose ofa transmitting antenna is to projeet radiant energy over a given wave path in the most effective and economical manner, The purpose of a receiving antenna is to absorb @ maximum power from a passing wave field, with the masimum exclusion of noise and inter Fgnals. The transit of a wave fickd between the two depends upon the physics of wave propagation. ‘The antenna engineer must be familar Ruth wave propagation to be able to design antenna systems of maximum Gffectiveness, Wave propagation is a vast and complicated statistical “Subject, and for that reason the space that can be devoted to the subject in this book is limited to the burest essentials. Sources of detuiled infor- mation are indicated for reference and study, Tt may be expeeted that fature developments in out knowledge of propagation will have their influence on future antenna design ‘The design formulas for the various types of antennas are presented without proof and may be regarded as recipes. ‘Their theory and derivas tion may be found in the literature, together with more complete informa tion of a related nature. Also, many data curves and tables are taken from recognized sources, although these are sometimes rearranged for greater utility. Some of the information is from unpublished sources and Tneludes much original material. ‘Tho appendixes contain reference dats of general use to the antenna engineer, ‘The nomenclature used for bands of frequencies is based primarily on their propagation characteristics. These terms are also approximately in accord with the nomenclature adopted by the International Telecom= munications Union at its Atlantie City conference in 1947. ‘The use of these broad terms has a brevity and convenience that is very desirable in writing and talking about frequencies, provided that one thinks about them as having indistinct boundaries. ‘One must recognize rather large overlaps in the bands of frequencies propagated as listed, and the bands shown are indicative only. They Blend gradually from one into the othor, the amount and the extreme ranges varying With the state of the ionosphere and ground characteristics PREFACE ‘tho three frequency groupings also roughly define three different of design technique for antennas, und we have taken them up in this ‘To a certain extent, high: ¥¢ design techniques may be applied to antennas used for optical propagation, but antennas for the frequen propagated optically become still another class of techniques based om rigid prefabricated structures. Term "Approximate band | Most useful propagation 1, conduction currents predominate over displare- ment currents and the equation for attenuation reduces to @ = 1.987 X 10% Vufe_nepers per meter Appendix II gives the so-ealled “skin depth” of ground currents (depth at which the wave attenuation is 1 neper or 8.686. . . decibels) for this ease, [For conversion from meter-kilogram-second (mks) to electtu- magnetic centimeter-gram-second (¢88) units, ome = 10! oa] ‘When o?/«%%s? X 1, displacement currents predominate over conduc~ tion currents and the equation for attenuation reduces to eve near fi mye permet For geologic materials w is 1. SYMBOLS FREQUENTLY USED IN TEXT Symbol Meaning ‘A Area included in current-distribution plot, degree-amperes; also ‘a symbol for special quantities C Capacitance c —__Free-space wave velocity (3 X 10* meters per second) D Distance d Diameter; distance E PF f Electrie intensity, volts per meter Field strength; « funetional notation Frequeney; a funetional notation Je Fundamental frequeney G@ Length of a conductor, electrical degrees Length of a horizontal conductor, electrical degrees G, Length of a vertical conductor, electrical degrees G> Length of a vertical conductor, radians B hk Height above ground I Current, amperes Gj Operator = 4/=T = a 90-degree rotation counterclockwise L Inductance 1 Length G Q Dissipation factor X/R; a standing-wave ratio Las/Tuis R Resistance, ohms r Radial distance V Potential, volts » Velocity of propagation, meters per second W Power, wattsSymbot x RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING. Meaning Reaetanes, ohms Impedanee, ohins Characteristic impedance Mutual impe Angle above the horizontal; also the attenuation factor in the propagation constint Azimuth angle from some reference diveetion Inductivity or ordinary dielectric constant ‘A colatitude angle in polar coordinates; also occasionally used as general designation for an angle Free-space wavelength in meters Fundamental wavelength in meters Radi Conductivity Phase difference; a longitude angle in polar coordinates Phase difference; a latitude angle Angular frequency 2ef CHAPTER 1 Low-frequency Antennas 1.1. Introduction Practical radio communication heyan with the use of the low frequenci and for several years the trend was toward lower and lower frequencies. It was believed at that time, early in the twentieth century, that the range of a station was a matter of a certain number of wavelengths, s6 that the longer the wavelength the greater the range. This continued until the middle 1920's, when the possibilities of high-frequency com- munication became evident. For a time, high-frequeney transmission captured the imagination of the radio-communication world, with the consequence that for many years low frequencies were believed to be discarded, For this reason low-frequeney techniques almost beeame a lost art, even though the applications for low frequencies have been con- stantly growing throughout the world. If it were not for the relatively congested condition of the low-frequency spectrum, there would be more extensive uses for this band from 15 to 300 kilocyeles. factor in the ever-inereasing importance of the lower is that of their comparative propagation stability, The variations that occur are small with respect to those usually encountered om high-frequency eircuits. ‘There are cireumstanees where this eharue- teristic outweighs all the disadvantages of the lower frequencies, such as when reliability is the dominané objective, Reliability in this case includes not only propagation stability but also relative immunity to jamming. Another characteristic value is the deep penetration of ground currents (which are really waves propagated in the ground or in water), which makes it possible to communicate at considerable depths under the sea or under ground. tis well known that the strength of atmospheric statie increases as the frequency becomes lower. This kind of interference is a controlling, factor in the effectiveness of low-frequeney communication. While the strength of the transmitted wave remains relatively steady, the rise and fall of the noise levels during a typical day may cover a range of 20 decibels, Thunderstorms in the general arca of the receiving station may increase this range to 80 or 100 decibels on occasion. The variations, 13“ RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING for frequencies down to 100 kilveyeles for the diferent noise zones for Uifeyent hours of the day en be detured from the eurves reproduced ax Appendix VIT. ‘These curves explain why the range of a low-frequency Station is determined by ambient noise rather than, by actual fading of the radio wave, ‘These curves also indicate the very large differences in noise conditions between the various noise zones from grade I to grade 5. Tt is a fortunate fact that the world’s auroral zones are regions of lowest atmospheric noise for low-frequeney propagation, beeause these are also the regions of greatest instability for high-frequency propagation. This permits low frequeuicies to be easily substituted for high frequencies, and Fommunication can take place with very moderate powers and with elatively inefficient antennas, This is one reason why the lower fre- {quencies have exceptional importance in the high latitudes. For many years the backbone of the North American airways nav 1 system was the four-course radio-range system using frequencies between 200 and 400 kiloeyeles. This basie system is being replaced by newer systems using the very high frequencies, but the older low-fre~ {quency system will remain for many years. In Europe this band has Tong been reserved for broadessting. Marine communication makes extensive use of the low radio frequencies, ‘In presenting a chapter on low-frequeney-antenna design it must not be thought by the general reader that this is a historical subject on Low-frequeney-antenna engineering is an active modern subject, and fone where the sources of information are few and the problems difficult ‘The author has been impressed by this lack of specifie information on low-frequency antennas even after so many years of engineering effort devoted to them, as well as enormous sums of money. The reason evi- dently is that the compromises that have to be made in design are so extreme that the designer has no particular pride in the result and says fs little as possible about it in his technical reports to the profession. ‘Almost all papers in technical journals about low-frequeney antennas are strictly descriptive and lack the detailed discussions of how the designs were conecived and developed that, one misses so much when searching for engineering guidance. ‘This chapter will provide some useful informa- tion and explain something about the nature of the compromises that fone must make in practice. Large low-frequeney antenna systems involve large capital outlays, and one may pay dearly for ignorance of the practical importance of the several controlling design factors and the compromises the desiguer finally accepts. 1.2. Low-frequency-wove Propagation Low-frequency radio waves are propagated by means of radiating: structures which are, in terms of wavelength, electrically very close to LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS. 7 earth, ‘Thus all propagation whieh ean be utilized isin this region close to the interfuce between earth and air, where the ground plays a very important role in the propagation physi . The field in the space above the earth is accompanied by a wave of ground currents in the earth or water (hereafter referred to as ground”). The lower the frequeney, the more negligible the displace- iment component of the ground currents with respect to the conduction component. Both conductivity and induetivity of the ground determine the depth of penetration of ground currents. The density of such ground currents decreases exponentially with depth below the surface when the soil is homogeneous, See Appendix H.) Losses in the ground eause attenuation of the wave field in space immediately above the surface of the earth, since energy from this field is dissipated continuously in the ground as the wave passes over it, This loss eauses the clectrie veetor to be tilted forward in the direction of propautation, producing a component of electric intensity parallel to the direction of propagation and another normal to it and to the surface. “The wave mechanics at the interface between air and ground are very complicated even under the simplest physical circumstances. The sohi- fon of Maxwell's equations in this region has long been in dispute, and setious work on the subject continues : Nothing ean be done about the electrical characteristis of the ground or the topography along the path between transmitting and receiving antennas, Ry choice, it is possible to locate the antennas in areas of the best available soil conductivity, thus to inevease the terminal efficiency tosome extent, and to increase this efficiency still further by proper design of the grounding system. Optimum groimslvave propagation is obtained over salt water because of ity conductivity (many times that of the best soils to be found on the land) and its uniform topography. Undulations in the topography of Jand enuse losses in propagation greater than the loss produced by con- ductivity alone because the impingement of a wave against a tilted surface erentes wave refletions that produce scattering of the energy in directions other than the original direction of propagation. The energy loss due to scattering is dependent upon the electrical height and the slope of the surface undulations. ‘The greater the electrical heights of hills and mountains, the greater the loss due to seattering and the greater the wave attenuation, Behind mountains greater than approximately one-half wavelength high, there may appear genuine shadows, but unless ‘other obstructions occur, this shadow will gradually be filed in as dis- tance is increased, owing to difract In choosing a site for a station operating on a low frequeney, therefore, these general facts must be taken into consideration by using the best6 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING. nl available land in terms of flatness, soil depth, and soil conductivity a by elioosing the flatte=t avziide profile in the direction af danvinant areret. Whenever possible, sites are located near the sex for overseas Jon or reception, 1. Ground-wave Propagation of Low Frequencies. Ground: wave transmissions in general require vertical polarization of the wave Feld; that is, the electric vector lies in the vertical plane through the direction of propagation ‘Low-frequency antennas therefore are designed for vertical poleriza- tion, the useful radiations being derived from currents in the vertical portions of the antennas, Radiations from horizontal portions of petennas at low frequency are lost by cancellation of their image radio- tions, Currents in the conduetors of a flat-top should be balaneed with, feapect to the conter where the down lead is taken off, For this reason, ‘T antennas are preferable to inverted types* except for the ense where multiple tuning is used "The fact that, at low and very low frequencies, practical vertical heights are usually a very small portion of a wavelength is the eause for two impor tant basie facts in low-frequeney-antenna design: (1) the vertical-radia- tion pattern is always that due to very short vertical radiator and follows the equation fa) = cos a achere a is the angle above the horizon, and (2) the radiation resistance is Rlvays very low, often very much lower than any other resistances in the gystem, For that reason, the radiation efficiency, defined as the ratio of ower radiated fo total poser input to the antenna aystem, is generally low. “The attenuation of a ground wave passing over a given path increases with frequeney, as one may observe from the data of Table 1.1. This table lists the attenuation for @ ground wave propagated over a smooth, spherical earth for sea water, soil of good conductivity, and soil of poor conductivity, Most soils encountered in practice will come between these “good” soil and “poor” soil limits, ‘The specifications for these soils are given in the table. Relatively low attenuation constitutes one of the advantages to the ‘use of a low frequency from the propagation standpoint.” But there are two opposing factors which penalize the low frequencies from & com- Tmunieation standpoint, One is the reduction in radiation efficiency which attends the use of lower and lower frequencl ite! 4 Many od texhooks tellus that an inverted antenna is dirootve ints horizontal pattern, ‘The amount of sch directivity is too small to consider. . due to the LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS 1 7 leettieal size of practicable antennas. This factor is equivale Sf erm aa 1012 ects at he wouree forthe Ten tad fe. quencies or for other frequencies where the radintion effieioney may be of the order of f per cent. ‘The other factor is that relatively high noise Ts Li, Gnovse-wave Puorscan foot Fawn Wave-path sttenuation, decibels | 80 kitoyeles | 100 itorycles | 200 kloeyees| 400 kilcycles Good soil (@ = 2 X 10°" electromagnetic unit; « = 30) 1{ oo | 6 | o 0 | = 0 0 2» | 2% 26 sm | 34 u Fe poole | oa 2 mo) 8 2 500 | 38 | 86 wo | 3 | oe fw we) om 1 a a 2 | 2% » a | om & 2 & wm | ow 8 s *” am | a = % eo fo | a 2 ” a voce | 70 5 Bs ito levels genorally prevail at these frequencies, While these» considerably. he vary considerably with time and geography, they seiouy Tint the range of tranemision by requiting relatively high feld strength for forking signal-to-noise ratios. The only way of overcoming8 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING. this range limitation is by cmploying high-power transmitters. Further more, it not feasible to obtain appreciable power gains by using diree- jes, Some mich higher freque tive antennas as is s0 exsily’ done ized at the receiving location by advantage of directivity can be employing loop or, preferably. wave antennas. 112.2. Sky-wove Propagation at the Low Frequencies. If low-fre- queney-vwave propagation was entirely by means of the ground wave, there would be negligible variations in received signal strengths. | Actu- ally there is some propagation by atmospherie paths above the earth with reflection or refraction of these sky waves back to earth, During the daylight hours, the lower radio frequencies seem to experience reflection from the D layer, an ionized stratum of atmosphere below the F layer. Like the latter, the D layer disappears during the hours of darkness, but this does not eliminate all sigual-strength variations that are attributed to sky-wave propagation. Any such sky waves interfere with the dominant ground wave and produce the variations observed on long circuits, even at the lowest radio frequencies in use, However, the magnitude of these vatiations is relatively small with respect to those experienced at the higher frequencies. 1.3. Low-frequency Antennas Low-frequency antennas are characterized generally as being elec- trically short. ‘This means that they operate at frequencies that are low fh respect to the fundamental frequency of the antenna system. | Thi x because realizable structures are small in proportion to the radiated wavelength. One of the design objectives is to have an antenna of given mechanical size appear clectrically as Jong as possible within the economic limitations of good investment. ‘The means one may adopt to achieve this end depend very much upot the specifications for the communication system, of whieh the antenna is one element, Tf communication over long distances in the presence of high electrical noise is the objective, very high power may be necessary. ‘The need for high power brings with it the need for special design tech- niques for the naturally large antenna currents and antenna potentials "Phe bandwidth required, depending on the type of emission 1g factor in the design of am antenna. In ion may be simply that whieh is ‘that result. ‘used, may also be a determin another case, the range of transmi possible within a specified capital cost. ‘Of course, the operating frequency itself is a dominant factor. The band embracing the so-ealled “low” and "very low” frequencies is from 300 kilocycles down to the lowest that have been used, something of the LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENDIAS. 1” order of 12 kilovycles. Ki order of 12 kilocycles. For the purposes of the present book, we shall wren low frequencies as those below about 500 kiloeyetes, for the that the same basic techniques ure usually employed for antennas with this range. Cognizance is ise. Cognia: taken of certain opportunities to apply: the special techniques w ich have been developed for the medlium-frequeney broacdeast band for fre 5 ‘ frequencies below 500 kiloeycles, where stoe and tovers are used as radiators instead of syatomis af wines Slane acrial wire systems constitute the frequencies. The design of antennas for frequen very specialized field of engineering, and problems within this range majority of antennas for the low below about 30 kiloeycles is a SS amare general practice. Except for casual mention of. etails as they arise in connection wit Ir gent jc are omitting reference to this very low range. me Radiation enginecring, in the sense of controlling the radi ion pattern of the system in special ways for special purposes, is virtually absent from low-frequency-antenna enginoe control is applied ‘to low-frequency course radio-range systems (see See. 1.133). In general, however, low- frequeney-antenna ‘engineering is prineipally a problem in eitcuits and how to obtain maximum efficiency from an electrically short antenna. 1.3.1. Vertical-antenna Current Distribution. ‘The principles of the electrically short antenna are better tunderstood from Fig. 1.1, in which the natural sinusoidal current dis- tribution along a straight uniform- section quarter-wavelength vertical antenna is used for reference. A straight uniform vertical antenna with a height of 20 degrees would have the relative cwrent distribu- tion shown for the sine curve above the 20-degree level A. In the same ng. To a limited degree, radiation navigational aids such as the four- ° tor INTENNR simysoioae cueen oistasution 2 CURVE A as DISTANCE Iv evecrAicay OF ttrony Rr/ Re To addition to improving the radiation efficeney, multiple tuning also provides a more convenient input impedance at the feed point and increases bandwidth “The full explanation of multiple tuning is much more complex than indicated here, where only the basic principle is explained. Some of the modifying factors are as follows: The effective capacitance of the flat-top is divided among the down Ieuds so that each requires a larger tuning. inductance than in the case of single tuning, ‘The resistances of these tuning inductances are in series with the radiation resistance of each down Tead, as are the conductor and insulation resistanee components of loss, and these are also transferred to the feed point through the factor No For the same coil Q, the larger induetance required for multiple tuning introduces a proportionately larger resistance per coil. | However, the total lows in the inductances with multiple tuning is also less than in ‘the cnse of single tuning, assuming equal Q's for all the inductances, Multiple tuning is best adapted to operation on a single frequency. Where itis necessary to tune the antenna to several operating frequencies from time to time, single tuning is the most convenient. 10.1. Umbrella Antenna, Figure 18 illustrates an antenna of the ‘umbrella type made up of three diamond antennas supported by seven towers and mechanically arranged eo that each section can be raised and lowered separately. In turn, each diamond can be divided ut the center for slect melting if required, and therefore the down Iéad from each diamond has two conductors as shown at 1-2, 3-4, and 5-0, each pair connected in parallel near ground. ‘The eross triatie of each diamond has low-tension insulator (represented by a dot) at the middle to divide the antenna for sleet-melting purposes. ‘ret us assume that power is to be introduced at the down lead 3-4. ‘The coupling apparatus will be located under this point, Only the LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS a maltiple-tuning inductors are located under the other two points. ‘P requires that the flat-tops of the three sections be electrically connected at some punt auch x af the center. This coil be dae by base insulut- ing the central tower for the whole antenna potential and phicit : ‘2 potential and placing th table winches onthe tower above these insulators. Keeping in mind the sleet-melting circuit (if used), three-phase Y connections eould be made with the neutral connected to this central tower and th tases is central tower and the three phases connected to points 1, 3, and 5. veo phase Pro. 18. An arrangement of thee diamond sections to lor frequency antenna, Testers to emg tatton Gra very ‘There is another arrangement that should not b r . iat should not be overlooked. ‘The towers I, IIT, and V could be adequately base-insulated and employed as the down-lead conductors and the tuning points located near their Sree all te eat a] sea ata oe diamonds, which would be thus connected direty tothe thre insulated towers “Tho serials wou be insulated from the ater four towers. ‘he mechanical flexibility of three separate flat-top sections could be realized very wall, but the aeetmelting circuits would be tomewhnt diferent,“ Blaned threephuse power could be applied diveetly wt the ase of the three insulated towers. This would be an excellent arrange- ‘ment for the sloct-melting circuits since, with the wire configuration ‘own, there would be an optimum equalization of the sleet-meltin Currents inthe wires of the fat-tops, * The procedure of multiple tuning a circularly symmetrical antennaRADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING e ayatem, after computing the approsimate values, i to adjust all tuning inductances to identical values until there is a condition of zero reactance trotween grontd and the inductance in the power lead. ‘The system will then be adjusted for equality of eurtents in all down lends 110.2. Multiple Tuning for Impedance Transformation. One of the chaeneteristies of multiple tuning has been showsn to be the transforma on of impedance at the fort point when power is fed into only one of several down leads. Advantage of ciple con be taken in some eo oF THE 6 WIRES “SebapareLy USED FOR xcHNG ANTENNA FLAT-TOP codnicaL case ‘DOWNLAD, eure, (n6) content Gace ‘SoWNLEAD «swe t—rntnajnnan S? }—jnxoe E 2etReike (ALL NWIRESIZ9¢Re-iKe +R ccrwinesr iRpxe e nootet , Rone( aioe 8) “7 7 : tuning spatied to the Feo. Pattop antenna sith con Fre. 10, ulin ening apo feat ee do lead Ben of ig: 1 fr snnpedance mstehing ‘eases to obtain a more favorable input impedance, principally an ineryase fa the input resistance, for coupling and matching purposes. The technique can be applied in the following manner Tu Fig. 1.9 we have shown the schematie representation of multiple- wire down lead for a single-tuned low-frequency antenna. There ave G down leads in this cage, and the antenna current is divided equally mong thom. Lot us say that this systein has & measured resistance of 3 ohms and a reactance of —7820 ohms at the operating frequency, | Tt wall tke an inductance sith a feactance of 320 ohms to tune Eis sve to series resonance by conventional means, ‘This impestance is a very Unfavorable value to use as. termination for a long feeder. |The imped- lance transformation that must be used sith prnctical feeders must be very Larue. The network that provides the desired ratio will store & Tange amount of energy, thus adding to the over-all selectivity of the system. | By the multiple-tuning technique, we ean produce a practical tran formation ratio in the antenna itself and therefore simplify the coupling LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS «6 problem. ‘The antenna can be fed through any one of the six wires. ‘his will multiply the input resistance by G? = 36. AU this stage it must be remembered that the quantity multiplied will be the total ‘antenna resistance, which includes the resistance of the load coil as well fs that of the antenna itself. ‘The resistance of the antenna, excluding the load coil, has been given as 3 ohms. ‘The load coil Q must now be estimated, Let it be arbitrarily assumed, for the frequeney and a pated design, to be 300. ‘The lond-coil resistance will be 320/300, ot 0.64, ohm. ‘The total resistance will then be 3.64 ohms, Now, if power is fed into one of the six wires, the input resistance will be 3.64 X 36 ohms. This is now a value of resistance that ean be a direct termi for certain types of unbalanced open-wite transmission line after tuning out the input reactance with a series inductance. ‘The total tuning reactance required is 320 ohms, This ean be lumped all in one coil; or each of the sis wires could be kept separated and a series reactance of 6 X 320 = 1,020 ohms used in each wire. If the coil Q wore the same as for one lumped inductance, the sume result would be obtained. In the example, where we feed into one of the six wires, we can use a load coil with a reactance of 1,920 ohms. Since the other five wires are connected together, a single load coil of reactance 1,020/5 = 384 ohms can be used. ‘The circuit is now as shown in Fig. 1.10, The over- all performance of the system is identical with single series tuning exeept that the input impedance has been transformed from 3.64 — 7320 ohms to 13] — j1,920 ohms. The reactance is tuned out with the second coil of 1,920 ohms, so that the actunl feed-point impedance is 131 ohms resistive. ‘This may be used as a direct termination for a transmission line having a characteristic impedance of approximately 130 ohms. A coupling network is thus climinuted in an efficient and inexpensive way, The transformation ratio can be varied by using different numbers of down-lead wires in parallel and by changing the ratio of currents in the wites. ‘The foregoing example assumed a citcular disposition of the ‘wites in which the antenna current was uniformly divided among them. Other system cross sections can be used which will provide unequal division of currents to modify the transformation ratio, more or Tess at will, The system efficiency, the total antenna current, the potentials and bandwidth of the entire radiating system are the same as if simple single tuning had been used. 1.10.3. Increasing Bandwidth of Vertical Radiators Used for Broad- casting. ‘The multiple-down-lead technique offers excellent possibilities for low-frequency -broadeast antennas where bandwidth is a special * Antenna tuning inductors have been built with a Q of as high as 10,000 at 15 kiloeyetes.“ RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING of a very large diameter vertical radiator ns of increasing, the bandividily ean be met by using 2 cen ‘with an outrigger at the top to support « eage of vertical wires having a substantial diameter without eseessive weight or cost. Let tus take, for example, a wide-band vertical radiator for brondeast pur- poses for a cartier frequency of 218 kilocycles, A stecl mast 200 meters igh (62.3 degrees at 218 kiloeyeles) must have a cylindrical height= to-diameter ratio of 20 in order to have a response within 2.5 decibels for the upper and lower 10-kilocyele side frequencies. ‘This information ‘can be computed from the impedance data of Figs. 2.15 and 2.16, taking into accouint that the electrical height of the antenna will wary from 49.9 degrees at 208 kilocycles to 541.7 at 228 kilocyeles. ‘To obtain a ratio of height to diameter of 20, the requisite diameter of 10 meters ean be obtained by using an outrigger at the top of the mast to support st least eight vertical wires in the form of a eage enclosing the mast. A larger number of wires would more nearly approximate a complete eylinder “The self-impedance of a radintor of these dimensions at 218 kilocyeles is of the order of 11 ohms resistance and 80 ohms reactance. Ground resistance and other loss resistances must be added to this. ‘The antenna ‘current will be equally divided, by symmetry, among the cight vertical vires, and a residual portion of the total current will flow in the steel central supporting mast. The exaet proportion of the total antenna current Rowing in the mast itself ean be computed by: means of logarith~ mic-potential theory, but we shall assume for the present that it is the same as that in one of the vertical wires. The system therefore is ‘equivalent to a nine-wire antenna with equal current division. We may choose to use a double tuning system, by including anywhere from one to eight wires in the fed portion, the remainder being tuned directly to ground, There is therefore a range of input impedances available for feed purposes, as shown in Table 1.4 problem, ‘The requiteme ‘Tamun 4 en fed portion | Toput obs | Input X, ohms 1 800 720 2 ms | 380 3 99 240 4 35 180 6 35 Ww 6 25 120 7 18 103, 3 “| 9 (eeltimpedance) u 80 _Sieltimpedanee) | | LOW. FREQUENCY ANTENNAS. 4s In the resista ponents have bee = sven the tale the round and other Ts rm omitted for simplicity. It is seen immediately that SR ee ea wires (with the supporting mast counted as « wire) included in the fed portion of the system, and with the remaining wires multiple-tuned in such a way as to maintain equal currents in all wires. It is interesting ouTRScER AND PERIPHERAL WIRE 8 SUSPENDED WIRES EQUVALENT_OIROUTT 2 wines 2ewine FEED quate SNS pou i 10 oPEN-WIRE i PRaLet 9 DOUELE ‘hsuuarons “FEeoeR ovis, Fig. 1.11. Multiple-tmed low-frequency brondeast antenna, that, with two wires in the fed portion, the resistance is of a value that Would permit divect matching of convenient types of open-wire feeders. With four fed sires, the value is suitable for direct matching with coasial feeders. The antenns-tuning gear consists of two inductors only, and the fll bandwidth eupuilts of the radiator are utilized by avoiding the us of more compliated networks having editions energy storage. igure 1.11 illustrates this arrangement when ts is used to match an open-wire feeder. “mone foals uc 1.11, Antenne Potential ‘The power input to a low-f imi « low-frequeney antenna is limited by al Any electrically short antenna having low resi ee nee and high reactanceRADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING “ " iven power input tses high Toss, sh eseitinge potential for ary vi ine ative i ee ding ares, or plumes, ¢ Pie ores very deste, The shesimarn se potent an vam the data in See, 4.9 (see ref. 50, Chap. 4) can fou fr wae conn fe uses besen he dow settee Nth pint he stn sistance Ry nets hee com ing and ron Tos, TF the anton unig ivartance included as part of the antenn instead of part of the transmitte 7 res ance is also included in the system resistance. Then, oA eee res ie yatem of I (ata, the anna caren a Ee eed po will be nee iat the bottom of the down lead will be ‘The feed-point potentin [s(Ra ~ Xe) 1e working frequency. where Xe is the antenna reactance at th Cota very lange with respect to Re so t simply In general, tential becomes " Vas FaXe antennas having an electrical length of less ley the antenna potential is than 20 degrees at the wor identical within 3 to 5 per cent king, frequency, it over the entire antenna. For any prac~ e that the maximum tical design porposes ane may sitar se estes simim fotential existing on any ordinary low-frequen ena desig de 0 Potential build-up from its standing-wave potentiatdistribution Patt ‘will not exceed pe cos i cient simply to add a few per or practical purposes is uit sufcont Simply oad for Te cznt oth an ede tenet “he tolation aorta the sytem aed the potential grout at etl pons reercetients muct be below those which profuse corona and ann Thing res). thoaltitude ofthe ste, ‘The conductors of the antenna Foose of sufiet inmeter and thee pial mangement Ss bcp ri es mes vee LOW- FREQUENCY ANTENNAS a the use of large and heavy conductors with their attendant mechanical snd economie problems ‘Phe critical coroni-producing gradients vary with the atmospheric pressure, the turbulenee of the air, and the freq Another impor tant factor is the energy of the system, whieh may’ be more than sufficient to sustain large and destructive plumes as well as self-propagating ares that produce actual flashovers to ground, Therefore high-potential engineering on high-power antenna systems has two distinet phases-~ that of not overstressing the air diclectric around the conductors and metallic parts, and that of the selection of solid insulation for isolating the antenna conductors from ground and supporting structures, tis evident from the direct proportionality between antenna potential ntenna reactance, all other factors remaining constant, that all the ques mentioned in See. 1.8 for reducing reactance will minimize the antenna potential for any given power input. Such techniques therefore raise the maximum power-handling capability of the system. ‘They also tend to inerease the bandwidth of the system as explained in Sec. 1.9. ‘The potential gradients to be expected in various parts of a multivire antenna are at times impossible to compute accurately. Satisfactory approximations for engineering purposes ean usually be made by simple methods. ‘The computation starts with the value of potential existing at the surface of the conductor. ‘This is determined from a measurement of the antenna impedance and the antenna current for the power input to the antenna and from the estimated build-up of potential above the feed point, which depends upon the configuration and the potential distribution. Several wires in parallel or in close proximity at the same potential reduce the potential gradients as compared with a single isolated the same potential. A single wire that is separated from ground, pporting towers, and other wites of the system by a distance of a few hundred wire diameters ean be assumed to have a strictly radial eleetrieal field at the wire surface. ‘The equipotential surfaces close to it will be concentric with the axis, To solve for the potential gradient near such ‘wire, we may assume its image charge to be uniformly distributed over an imaginary cylindrical surface at a considerable distance like the outer ‘conductor of a concentric transmission line. We ean apply the principles ‘of @ concentric transmission line and consider that the isolated wire is the central conductor of « concentrie transmission line having a charac- teristic impedance of large valite, say 300 ohms or more. ‘This requires that the outer concentric conductor have a very large diameter. In this analogy, the potential gradients in the vicinity of the antenna wire will approximate, with acceptable accuracy, those which would exist for the0 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING seam size wire af the same potential mse the central eanduetor of this vie Tite, equivalent 0 “Phe maxinaaim safe opertting be computed from the inforanation given in Bev. 12 Fi ree Peo ta elias Maen there ste severah wires ia parallc, the masinuny s sejor the same wire size ixinereasrd somewhat, When ined struetures oF wires of opposite ential iy reduced. High weakness, potential for an antenna conductor ext wire, 0: operating poten the wire is in the vieinity of grow potential, the masinmum safe operating Poe Pottyged potential gradients, which are incipient sores © locatintyetinaes be reduced by «pplng corona shiekls oF insulated con Terie Corona shields reduce Toca potentiaks by dist iuting the electric Charge over & larger area and thus reduce the ee ‘rie-flux density below cae values that produce ionization. The insulated ‘control is used Far the same purpose, but it functions ina different rave) Tt reduces tor area gradients by placing dielectric materil in he high-intensit vocctrieat fold and smooths the diseontinulty, between, metallie st clecteefelectrie constant ofifiity and air whieh has dieters f constant seat LO. The layer of dielectric material! ucts as a corn Te Ad. Many localized weak points in 9 Tow-frequeney ankenne eT ean be con ty the use of insulated controls. For example, We Soft) limit for wine oyster is raised if the wires are coated with Fete insulating, high dielectric constant. The varnish also reduces the ‘A projection that eatses corona ean Titen be neutralized by attaching a mass of insults material in the or Peonath fed, butt in_suct a way that small deadialt oT are nenptetely absent; otherwise there may be ioniaion the dead-air feeions. Plastic as well as solic dielectrics are ‘useful in many bordestine casa problems. Plastics are wsually more convenient than corona ete eaede of metal. An insulated control ts usually Mor effective with drip water chan a metallic sicld where the drip water ™0Y bbe the aantee of brushing or phuming from the retal surfaces When it is desired to increase transmitter power ot AP existing low- frequency station, it may be found that some modifications are needed Treats the antonnc safely withstand the inerossed potential. In most +o ne these problems will be localized. Special mearst™® applied to the weak points, as just mentioned, will often remor the limitations at eae earanall expense. The indication of an optimum ante design seerven the potentials are limited by corona or plume Of the linear a ae a thonghout the system and there are no Tocal weak spots. Tt conaaeiery then only toensure thatthe lining potentials re well above the operating values. varnishes with rate of corrosion of the conductor LOW- FREQUENCY ANTENNAS. ” 1.12. Low-frequency Ground Systems ‘The principles of grounding low-frequency i temple eal ng r-ite ems () ecu of the rd eccly eater wavelength and (2) brews the tow frequencies penetrate v hoeause the low frequeneles pone! ee ete roatively greater dep This nin contrast withthe stare Sat i rot oi a aia rod tems of the crea na ht ean pled com such teins, most of the electrical us that cates return ground condue treat ct han of ane ante curve eallected wer the top of the ground system so that the eurvent dent vin the sll Ios yam Ta ie a of thaquneie wi electialy ond ie, comele pation af the el is compet ae seer d uavond the tite of the grnd system. and eurrents Row buck Ite tn at eaten teh une she rund orton. Teen siportant to elect gronid-ecerents hk stch tay as to minimize euerent densities in the sll to reduce ground oss “mums “her a sentially hee mets forthe den of fmf acum gtr rial mel rod atm Cg. 1.12); a rou ig, 1-13); counterpoises (Fig. 114) Smead “tel Rail buriedwire Ground System, The saab ge tm 15 to 0 aia ion, centend a the antenna ae Pav in the si, Beene of he res pe eondutis of the ‘rs wh expect othe tre i fend fo he ran a sail to be dire into te her reste ps fred by th ies, ie earth currents are at their mas ity at the surface of the The eat et 4 their masimum density at the surface of the sro whee the wn are bl ha «wean prin of th rent is eonclueted bythe radial wires # they’ a 7 long and sufficiently numerous. But since it eaters eee eee ae a cmc ne yee sound ino he so te hed we co enh ow can tiara ey set ving eth ed vies, cnc concentrated collection such as the base of the ‘There are several wi i al ways in which « ground system ; in rt dni ac Ground ods an be attain at he ends of de rast tect h current as possible vertically “of the aya as mc eally at the periphery of the syst Waly, the ground fats sould sch dow fo the depth corresponding Waki Ehcknos forthe sll conduetty and the operating Ire operating fre-RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING. 2 “This is not wanally practical. but it is desirable to we the quene ongest available groond rods vegeta aroma sires may be brought out of and above the surface of heaoit at some distunce from the antenna base, This requires the deep ae ‘nce sufficient to prevent ‘currents to rise to the surface ut iformly at ad Littas unico wines wre ayy old? I. END GROUND RODS i SNANQLUEEEE EZ Ss Wilt \N Mi \ i! { i ~ 1 I ' Fio. 112, Low-frequeney buriederadial groun forming gevund sereen. excessive concentration at the circle of collecting points. Tt is also beneficial to employ ground rods a from the ground, ‘The ground rod degrees toward the center of the system. in at this angle, reduce stil coming up from below 3. The radials that emerge and {t the point where the radials emerge is should be driven at an angle of $5 ‘Phe inner ground rods, driven further the concentration of ground currents come to the base of the antenna above LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS: a ground also form an cleetrostatie ground sercen to shield the zround from the intense cleetric field new the base of the antenna. AC this point the antenna potential is high, and the ground seroon prevents large dielectrie loss in the soil. ‘The exposed portions of the radials are insulated from. ground at all points after they emerge from the ground. ‘The exposed. portion of the radials should be of the order of 1 elvetrieul degree ut least 1S wuneo stan “iN Fic. 1.18, A single eivvle of star grouncl 4. The length of the buried radials should be made as great as land ‘and budget will permit. ‘The number of radials used should also be as large as budget will permit, up to a maximurn of 150 or 180, 5. ‘There should be no closed conductive loops in the ground system in which eddy currents can circulate to increase eopper loss. 6. The size of the wire used will depend upon the amount of current collected by each wire for the power and antenna used, taking the precau- tion to avoid excessive eopper loss. This is a factor of great importance where large antenna currents arc involved. 1.12.2, Multiple-star Ground System. ‘The star ground system utilizes the principle that if a number of short buried-wire radial systems, simulating large ground plates, are placed at uniform distance around2 RADIO. ANTENNA ENGINEERING the antenna hase and their centers connected together at the base of the ities in the soil ¢ antennst With orergrowad bus wires, the current dew be made relvtively small. A system of such star radiabs ean reduce the current densities at the collecting areas to almost any degree desired depending on the number used. When two or more concentric circles of stars are tsed, inductors are phiced in series with the busses for the inner stars to equalize Uh nts—otherwise the inner ones would callect the most ewrrent, ‘The induetors may be simply a Few turns in the bus wire wrapped around the supporting poles for the over-ground return circuit. The size and number of radial wires in each star and the number of stars used per circle have to be determined by tests. ‘The greater the amount of current to be collected, the greater should be the number of stars and the number of circles of stars. ‘This will in turn depend upon the antenna resistance and the power input. A star of ight 50-foot radials may be mentioned as a suggestion for 100-kiloeycle use. At higher frequencies the radials ean be decreased eventually to 25 foot in length. It is better to use mote stars of short radial length than to use fewer stars with long radials. The need for ground rods at ‘the ends of each radial must be determined by experimental tests. 1.12.3, Counterpoise. The counterpoise is an insulated net of radial wires assembled above ground to form a large capacitance with the ground. From the earliest days of radio the merits of the eounterpoise 185 a low-loss ground system have been recognized becastse of the way’ in which the current densities in the ground are more or less uniformly distributed over the area of the counterpoise, Any tendency toward formity of current distribution in the ground will increase the portion of ground current toward the edge of the counterpoise. Tt is Inconvenient structurally to use very extensive counterpoise systems, and this is the principal reason that has limited their application. The size of the counterpoise depends upon the frequency. Tt should have suffi- cient capacitance to have a relatively low reactance at the working froqueney so as to minimize counterpoise potentials with respect to ground. ‘The potential existing on s counterpoise may be a physical hazard which may also be objectionable. All three of these ground systems require exposed over-ground wires near th antenna base. ‘The buried radial ground system with the wires brought above ground near the antenna is possibly tht best choice at stations where there is ample land for an extensive buried-wiro systefh. In this system, the over-ground wires are not dangerous since they are at, ground potential. ‘The buried radial system accomplishes current-den- sity reduction and decreases ground lasses out to the distance of the buried radials, The overground portion forms an excellent ground screen a8 LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS s well, In restricted areas, the star system seems to afer the hest possi bility of obtaining. low ground resistance without the inconvenience ani exposed potentials of the eounterpoise. However, if the disadvantages of the counterpoise can be tolerated, it may be superior to the star system for low ground resistance. Figures 1.15 and 1.16 show useful details of counterpoise vonstruction.* Fig. 114, Countespoise (capacitane) ground. ‘These comparisons are not to be regarded as absolute, for they have not been proved quantitatively over a sufficient range of conditions to be considered as fact. ‘They are the author’s opinion from the information at his disposal. The soil conductivity and the frequeney for any particu- lar case may modify the controlling factors sufficiently to affect the final choice. For frequencies from 15 kilocycles to 500 kilocyeles and soil conductivities from 10-* to 5,000 X 107 electromagnetic unit (sea water) the conditions vary a great deal * Figures 1.15 and 1.16 are photographs of an electrostatic ground ecreen and not & counterpoise. However, the mechanical consteuction of counterpoize ean be ‘exactly a8 Mlustrated jn these fgares except that the innor ring of Fig. 1.15 should he fully inaulated from ground. ‘There should not be any connection to actual ground i the antenna cizeuit when « eounterpoise i usedse RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING ‘The depth of penotration of ground enrrents at the low frequencies wit important to consider the mature of the stb (ee Appendix HT) makes if important t0 es soil to the depth known ae the “skin thickness.” ‘The seareb for a station site should include ion of the subsoil characteristics Fig 145. Ground sercen construction—center detail, (holograph courtesy of WAM. Witty, consulting engineer.) | I niente an end ‘ph from Radio Station Fie. 116. Ground sercen for a vertieal radiator. (Phot KTRS, courtesy of W. M. Wit) with the purpose of obtaining soil of best available conductivity to a sufficient depth. A thin covering of good-conductivity topsoil overlying fa base of poor conductivity is usually a poor location for a low-frequency station. 1.13, Low-frequency Directive Antennas 1.13.1. Loop Antennas. Directive antennas for use on the low fre~ quencies are limited to those which function with electrically close spac- LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS 5s ing. For receiving, the loop antenna giving» figitre-of-cight pattern, and the loop, in conjunction with a vertical sense antenna, giving the eardioid pattern, hus long been used for direction finders particulatly. ‘The cardioid pattern from a loop and a vertical antenna is obtained by phasing the current in the latter at 90 degrecs with respect to that in one side of the loop and by carefully balancing their relative curvent amplitudes to obtain the full null of the cardioid. ‘This prineiple is amply deseribed in all radio textbooks, particularly those dealing with direction finding. Ships and aireraft continue to be the principal users of diteetion finders ‘as navigational aids. In recent years, the automatic direction finder hus been developed to indicate continuonsly the bearing of the station used asthe beacon. However, the use of loops for fixed point-to-point services has beon marginal and of small importance. 1.13.2. Wave Antenna. ‘The wave, or Beverage, antenna has for many years been the principal low-frequency direetive antenna for the fixed services, especially for frequencies below 100 kilocyeles. It was apparently the first antenna to be developed using the traveling-wave principle. Since 1920, this prineiple has been applied to many other forms of antennas for frequencies over the entite present-day range of radio frequencies. ‘The wave antenna, as used for low-frequency reception, consists of a horizontal wire one wavelength or more long und oriented in the direction of a desired arriving signal, I is usually suspended 15 to 30 fect above ground on ordinary telephone poles ‘The simplest form consists of a single wire terminated in its character istic impedance to ground at the end nearest to the sending station. The other end terminates in the receiver. ‘This type of antenna is responsive to vertically polarized waves by virtue of the fact that the cleettie vectors of u wavefront, when passing over the imperfectly conducting earth, are tilted forward ‘in the direction of propagation. ‘This produces com- ponent of electric force that is parallel to the wire and induces a eurrent init. ‘This current flows in the direction of wave travel, which is toward the receiver end of the wave antenna, All portions of the antenna collect, additional energy from the impinging wavefront in space, and the energy extracted from the passing, wave field is cumulative so long as the phase of the wave in the antenna does not become greatly diferent from that of the exciting field. ‘The length of the wave antenna can be increased to advantage up to the point where destructive interference begins to take place between the wave field and the wire field. Where this cumulative effect reaches its ‘optimum value depends upon the conductivity of the soil surrounding the antenna, the frequency of the incoming wave, and the orientation ‘of the antenna with respect to the direction of wave travel in enses where6 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING direction, ‘This Inter condition is Feapanile for the wave antenha’s pronounced directivity patter Topethor with the eonition of far-end termination, which diipates alt itenna, ‘These effects the antenna is not oriented in the energy traveling. in the opposite direetion in the 2 fre ehatucteristic of all traveling-wave antennas “the best location for a wave antenna is where the soil conductivity ig lowest to a considerable depth (preferably as deep as the skin thick= Unlike most other site requirements: where the highest possible ty is desired, in the low-frequency wave antenna low con~ fn masimum wave tilt and the maximum ness). soil condueti ductivity is desited to obti exposure of the wire to the tilted wave field Exec VECTORS OF EguIRASE WAVEFRONT WAVE ANTENNA(SIOE VIEW! ecever 16. 1.17, Simplest form of wave antenna “Phe characteristic impedance of the wave antenna is that of an unbal> anced transmission line, Tt can be computed from the cross-sections! fof the antenn One oF more wires may be used to obtain je impedances between 300 nd 400 ohms. Single-ire wave antennas will suffice For many applications. | TC is often desited to reverse the dircetion of maximum response in order to from two reciprocal directions at different times, or ions where it is more con- reccive stations porhaps simultancously. ‘There Fenient to locate the receiving equipment near the blind end ‘These requirements are easily met by using a wave anter of two parallel wites as shown in Fig. 1184. ‘The wave field impinges tipon these two wires simultancously, and equal currents are caused to flowin both wires in the direotion of wave travel, These currents con- tinue toflow until they reach the far end of the antenna, where reflection transformer is used to transform the collected current from unbalanced to balanced form. ‘The energy thus transformed is then propagated backward along the antenna to the receiver. In this eae, the receiver ie eomnested betwcen the two wires instead of from the wires to ground. ‘The input impedance of the receiver is made equal (o the impedance cf the two wires functioning as a transmission Tine. ‘To suppress pickup from the opposite direction, the neutral point of the balanced input ‘Greuit is connected to ground through a resistanee equal to the charae- teristic impedance of the two wires to ground. LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS. y ‘The reflection transformer shown int Fig. 1.18.1 is an inductive trans Former having «ratio of Zoy unl eve, and connected fas shown. Zar designates the eharactexistic impedance of the two wires unbalanced to ground, and Za is the balanced characteristic impedance between wires. In this diagram, reception is intended from one direction only, using one receiver In Fig, 1.188, two receivers are used for simultaneous reception from two reciprocal directions. ‘The input to one receiver is matched to Z balanced and the other to Ze, unbalanced and connected as shown, In irecrion OF TRAVEL OF DESIRES wave 2955 202 a=} nto + ' a ‘feel j 2 nel ftom rociprocalalivetions nv a alteative for of bidivective wave ante reflection transformer. ° cane without frece| this dingrum, reflection from the far end is accomplished by groundin tne wine and leaving the nheropen-ieuted. "Thi lanes the cureent received from the right but has no effect on the unbalanced current received from the left, In order to obtain sufficiently eomect balances in the transformers, an cleetrostatic shield is indicated. “The characteristic impedance Zo, is in general a function of frequency, varying from the value computed from standard formas which assume aperfectly conducting earth. Ttis desirable to measure the impedance of a system at the working frequencies after erection. This involves speeial techniques in view of the uncertainties of the ground terminals Divectivity of Wave Antennas. The approsimate polar pattern in the hosizntal plane fora wave senna having length af one ravelength (860 degrees) is shown in Fig. 1.19. A pattern of this type is somewhat dependent upon the underlying soil at a given frequency because of its effect upon the propagation velocity within the antenna system,RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING. Al directivity can he obtained by combining two or more wave jay can fe kiteral or longitdinal or 2 wre used to guide the ry transmission tine received energy from the antennas to the receivers, and differences in the equalities in the transmission-line lengths, are corrected by m of appropriate phasing netw: r 4 cls a. s RELATIVE FIELO INTENSITY Ls Frc. 1.20. Messured response pat- terns for one elewent and for an array fof four wave antennas used at the receiving station of the Ameriran Fio. 1419, eal horizontal response pat- ‘Telephone & Telegraph Co, at Houle ternforaoneswavelongeh waveantenna. ton, Maine, points. ‘The combining technique may employ either active or passive reans in such a way as to avoid interaction between the several antennas. Figure 1.21 shows the circuitry employed for the low-frequency trans- atlantie-telephone wave-antenna system at Houlton, Maine, Four wave antennas, each 320 degrees long, are arranged in two pairs and are all parallel,” Antennas and B form the first pair, spaced Interally 25 LOW-FREQUENGY ANTENNAS E [ee i mez] 8 a ies eles) lefts] ry qd) il! | rem Pe i pi j " HUT. |i ils 3 ai Comoersoinranstomer “Compensation henormer i 5 a the wave-entenna array at Houlton, Maine. FaRADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING o 1 pair, composed FNdegrecs. A second identien degeves and longitudinally TSdegrees. a " Grrantennass€ and D, are spare tteraly 220 degrees, Phe areas situdinal elfects to obtain Improve fore utilizes both lateral and longitudinal ef mn a prcetivity, and the oxerall pattem for the array is shown in Fig. 1.20 “The wave antenna has the property of substantial aperiodieity and therefore is especially desirable in wide-band systems, 14.3, Adcock Antenna. Another principle for low-frequency ditoc= tive transmision und reception is used in the Adcock antenna, ‘This i 8s a Fic. 1.22 Adcock ariny for four 90-degree courses. consists of two spaced vertical radiators with their Gurrents in (or very near) phase opposition. Such a pair of radiators ts Substantially the characteristics of a loop antenna, but with the add? tonal. property that the feeders between the two radiators are made ronradiating, (They are often in the form of buried eosin feeder) "The system of tivo crossed Adcock antennas has been widely use many years in the low-frequency four-course radio ranges for sina avigation in the North American continent and in other parte of the Wvorkd In its simplest form, four vertical radintors are located #1 Me Torners of & 600-foot square, Diagonal pairs constitute two Adeork frrays, If each pair is energized with equal-amplitude antiphase antenna basically LOW FREQUENCY ANTENNAS a currents, and energized alternately in some interlocked keying sequence such as the commonly used A-N method, the crossed paticrns produce symmetrical courses at O0-Legree azimuths (see Fig. 1.22). TT now the currents in one pair are decreased with respect to the other pair, as shown in Fig. 1.23, the two reciprocal pairs of courses are squcesed. If the phaso of the currents of one Adcock pair is made different from 180 degrees by a small amount, an asymmetrical figure-of-cight pattern is generated. When combined with the pattern of the opposite pair of i 60 fe eae tec tot uae igvoses maa a Fig, 1.28, Adeock array with squeezed courses, radiators, the equisignal bearings can be bent in varying amounts to set up four-course guidance at specified azimuths. ‘The merit of this system of navigation is that an ordinary receiver is uused in the aircraft. When equal signals ate obtained from both the A.and the N sides of the radio-range system, a steady signal is heard by the pilot and he is on one of the four courses. ‘The apparent width of a course is of the order of 3 degrees. Outside of this zone, the difference in signal level is apparent, and the A or the N signal ean be distinguished to indicate which side of the course the aireraft is on, ‘This is indicated in Fig. 1.24, which shows the transition of the signal from a pure N toa pure A and passing ono equisignal (on-eourse) bearingo RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING Feuding ACN Arrays, ‘The two Adeork pairs inthis system ave fed throngh a cros-coil goniometer having ‘Mhe A signals ave fed across one primary ‘One secondary excites the first pair of dingo two primaries and two secondaries, id the N signals across the radiators and othe wo rSiGwaL ZONE SIGNALS TRANSMITTED FROM THE ee SEENTENNA ARE SHOWN CR0SS-HATEHED SIGNALS TRANSMITTED FROM THE “NSANTENNA ARE. SHOWN OPEN Fic. 1.24 Principle of course and quadrant identifiestion in the Civil Aeronauti Authority four-course Adeock radio range. ‘The goniometer is designed to be rotatable, so position the currents of the two pals ily distributed among the four radiators. ‘The field pattern aa eth the goniometer rotation, Te goniometer position is there fore a factor in the resulting pattern, when in other than the zero position, anid plays a part in the bending of the courses to preseribed aimuths, ‘The installation, adjustment, and calibration of a four-course radio the other the second pair. that when in other than the zero LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS, e range of this type (by: flight checks) may require that only two of the courses be aligned to specified azimuths, in whieh ease the others may fall at random, In other cases three or all four of the courses may have to be oriented at specified azimuths, Out of the great variety of possible combinations, Figs. 1.25 to 1.28 are included to show the effects of the goniometer position and the effcets of feeder Tine lengtlis in adjusting the re 9 Ae te a Wie, 1.25. Adcock array pattern with one nutiphiaaed pair and one pair out of auti- phased relationship, phase differences in one or both pains of radiators, In these diagrams the locations of the four radiators are shown. Euch legend gives the goniometer position in degrees from reference position, G, the differential in the electrical lengths L: and Lz of feeders to the radiators Ay and As, and the differential in the electrical lengths Zs and Zy to radiators As and A. Each feeder to each tower includes a straight run of coaxial feeder and an adjustable artificial-line network which builds out the eleetrieal length of each feeder until it is equivalent to 90 degrees, approximately, from the goniometer. ‘Therefore there is a total of about 180 degrees in the feeding system between a pair of radiators in the reference optimum initial condition. To produce phase differences between the currents ofoe RADIO. ANTENNA ENGINEERING. 4 por, this total feeder length is held constant, and the goniometer is, in Acct, mnoved olf the center uf the feeder, by removing. say, 4 degrees of fengtl from the artifical-ine network on one side and adding the same dmount on the other side. ‘The same is done independently in the feeding Of hath Adcock pairs (see also rets, 10 and 28, Chap. 2) Figure 1.22 shows the perfectly symmetsieal pattern with reciprocal goadegree courses when the goniometer i jn its zero position and the 3 +9 Be Gale & Pia, 126. Adcock array pattern with both pairs out of antiphassd rel hip, ‘currents of each pair are identical and exactly antiphased. Figure 1.23 srthe same except that now an attenuator has been introduced in the feeder to the first pair to decrease the currents in that pair with respect to the currents in the second pair, ‘This retains the same pattern shape for the first pair, but ifs amplitude is reduced. At the same time it squeezes the eourses as shown but retains their reciprocal relationship Tn Fig. 125, the goniometer remains at zero. ‘The currents of the first pair are in exact antiphased relationship, but the currents of the creond pair are now 16 degrees out of antiphased relation. As a result, fone pair of courses is squcered, and the opposite pair is expanded. | The tivo reciprocal intermediate angles remain at 90 degrees. The symmetti- at fgure-of-cight pattern of the fist pair is combined with the asym- LOW-FREGUENCY ANTENNAS ie metrical figure-of-cight pation of the second pale. Tn Fig, 1.26 both pairs have the ayymanetrical fgureof-right pattern de toa phase di ference of 12 degroes fron antiphase eonulition. Te ean be seen that the angle between adjacent courses is the same on opposite sides uf the whole pattern. The goniometer reinains in the sero postion ° igure 1.27 is the same as Fig. 1.22 except that a 30-degree rotation of tho goniomoter hus rotuted the pattern 13 degrees,” Figure 1.28 shows Fro. 1.27, Rotation of four 90-degree courses hy means of goniometer rotation, equal 20-dogree phase deviations from antiphase for both pairs, but the goniometer is now sel at 75 degrees, ‘The patterns from the twvo pairs are seen to be unequal, and the angles between courses are all different. In all the above cases except Fig. 1.28 the currents in the two pairs have been the semne. In this ease the ratio was changed hy connecting an attenuator in the fewer to one pair. ‘The adjustmont of this eurrent ratio between pairs, the setting of the goniometer, and the phasing of the two pairs provide the means for obtaining the very great range of course settings used in practice abe use of approximately one-half wavelength of feeder btwn the iators of a pair} consisting of coaxial line and artificial building-out networks having the same characteristic impedance, gives the maximuminti oe lather ani ae infec. When i sree that vata aly stent and have 1 wean an ih reactance at the frequencies between 200 and 400° eae it Sone a zht ordinarily be negligible can readily ‘expected that variations that might ordi © le aces important in such a phase- and amplitude-sensitiv system, ‘The special properties of the half-wavelength Tine are employ to main- x eae a Ctr Ag a Fro. 128, Adcock artay pattern illustenting arbitrary relation Eombination of eurrent phasings and goniometer position dogrce of stability with the impedance variations inevitably i hstwen courses by tain a high encountered in service. In the design and installation every effort is made to minimi of the radiators and the ground systems ve immpedance variations du to ehanges in . iat ators in the wind, the pres- ere crncteristies, the movement of the radiators in the wind, Sie of meistre fms and water on the insulators at thease and he ae ushings, and many other effects which aro of lesser importance but eercunncren! Other variations aro imposed by which cumulatively ean be disturbing. nposed the cooling and heating of the tuning inductances duc to power dissipation tnd to solar radiation and weather conditions throughout the seasons, ‘The radio range is also used for the transmission of voice signals for instraetions. and information to pilots. In the nonsimultancous type LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNAS o using only the four rudiators previously discussed, all four radiators are excited in phase when the voice signals are transinitted, This involves switching from the four course navigational form of system excitation to parallel excitation for omnidirectional transmission, and the navigational facilities are absent during the voice transmission. ‘A later form of radiating system, known as the "simultaneous radio range, places a fifth radiator at the eenter of the array, and voice signals can be transmitted from this central radiator without interrupting the navigational signals. In the receiver, the 1,020-cycle tone modubation used for navigation is selected by a filter to provide the navigational signals, while the voiec circuit filters out this tone so that it will not interfere with the reception of voice signals. One reeciver equipped with this reciprocal filter system provides the two types of signals in two output circuits simultaneously. ‘The eross-Adcock antenna system has also been used for fixed diree- tion-finding stations for low- and high-frequency applications. 1.14, Reference Dota on Certain Forms of Low-frequency Antennas In Figs, 1.29 to 1.31 and their related tables some useful reference information is given on several forms of low-frequency antennas. Some of these data were obtained from full-seale antennas as constructed, and others were obtained from scale models. canoueae 3B | Hf coeeee i 1B ies i Ee | eo ; ie ad = 2 contin (acs, 28 SELF-SUPPORTING ei Fio, 1.29, Single-tuned invorted-L. antenna with horizontal portion expanded. By means of these data the approach to a new antenna problem is greatly simplified. ‘The configurations presented will often be directly usable or will pravide information that will be applicable to similar configurations. While one may conceive of a wide variety of antennas, economy restricts the number that are practically reasonable100: 600" er) i lars" L_gounoeo masts Roun ror LAAOTTTTI TITTY PITTITIOTTITT TIT TERIA, CROSS SECTION HTEOENT =jxioaay ones [TEMS PER NER (ALG WIRES) [fot Pade TOOK A = [twine [226 [i380 | se0 =E 3 wines ® LT |sowBtl Rms. |223 [roe0 | o33 ¢ + + [sabi SSoms,|222 |1030 | 427 ° + LeoaketESoiys| 221 | 1072 | 12 el: + leeadit*SSoins| 221 | 905 | are ee * VopaZeESoine| 222 | 975 | 40 Fie * |spacin goons) 222 | 978 | 416 6 spacing 160 ms.| 220 | sto | 38¢ a WIRES * spacins Grins, | 219 [245 | 365 Po, 1.80, Inverted: antennas. 300) aanres in SQUARE cece | 09! rowens ‘Srounteo. seis FroerNG + | xohme) LoS ea “<8 we A 50 | ass | i788 8 | "705 | Mess 3G % | $90 | 538 38 | 508 | 480 - 50 | feo | 398 83 | $68 | 385 Ah iso | irs | tg3 gs Ei 200| ‘40 | "30 oe a! “ol % 30° oR, SPACING ASAITERNA ENDS SQUARE. hey iS RUE eae sh SBkcine By BETAIL WAS ‘ChanceD OV SHAPE USING ONE INSULATOR ONLY IN TRIAS. Fic, 131. ‘Two-wiro antenna LOW. FREQUENCY ANTENNAS ” ‘Phe application of vertical radiators to the lower frequencies is inere ing stealily as greater heights hecome practical. Where onee a height fof 1,000 feet wus considered excessive, such a height is not considered unusual now. A height of 1,500 feet is already regarded as practical Iso! se jog 4-490 TOWERS | | | | eNO wt e tte) | _xtohmey i680 Fie, 1.82, Diamond antenna 1.15, Structural Design Low-frequency antennas usually involve a great deal of mechanical ‘engineering. In some casos the mechanical problems are more extensive than the electrical, For this reason the rndio engineer often requires the aid of civil and mechanical engineers when design responsibilities exceed his normal competence. ‘The design of supporting structures for radio antennas is now a special field of engincering practiced by those engaged in the business of supplying masts and towers. When these structures must support extended serial wire systems many of the»” RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING mechanieal problems ate Faken aver by the tower engineers, Neverthe- Teas the radio engineer shoukl be famitiar with certain elements of struce tral design in onler to orient his preliminary antenna design toward Forms that will be practical and economical. ‘These clements are the same as those required for high-frequeney antennas and transmission Tines; therefore Secs. 3.26 and 4.13 should be consulted LOW-FREQUENCY ANTENNA SYSTEM feevarion Toor GROUNDED GUYS SECTIONED WBE COREL Sti oH easuneD CHARACTERISTICS To | ESSENSE [toned xn % 238 Pa “ise 255 28 1388 3 See 58 a % #5 a8 as 3° a u Aa 2 a : ‘8 8 i as 8 3 st 38 ie 0 a 8 3 by is ba % 0 ae th BS fe 2 ut 3 Fra. 133. Triangular fal-top antenna (elevation). ‘Various good examples of assembly details for low-frequency antennas are presented photographically in Figs. 1.85 to 143. ‘These details will ferve as a guide to good engineering practices for a wide range of applications. "The mechanical loadings on members of a low-frequeney antenna are often rather lange, and it becomes necessary to use high-strength con- Guetors, even though electrical conductivity has to be snerified, “Tt is customary to use stranded eonduetors of phosphor bronze, Calsun bronze, fand eopper-clad steel when exceptional strength is needed. Some high+ Strength alloys require great care in construction to avoid annealing during soldering, which reduces the strength, ‘The sume effect is obtained aoeaoea — S30 Bue RaoiaLs WITH Fr GROUND AOOS AF OUTER ENDS ae ~ aa \ Siren cue Nes fee oa ™. TOWER CIRCLE ‘G00 FE RADIUS “INNER cuY cincLe INVER conaucTORS 300 FT RADIUS. Sig 018 caLSun BRONZE 30% COND ‘circuits “gers! DOWNLERDS 1 as ® PLAN VIEW-LOW FREQUENCY ANTENNA SYSTEM Fro. 1434. Plan view of antenan shown in Fig. 183, Fic, 135. Assembly of two antenna stesin ial potentiating ings and one alator im seve both ited with ha rain shield. cone nFea, 1.36, Antenne down-lesd and coupling-howse-entrance detail power low-frequency stations. Fig. 1.88, High-voltage oil-filled safety-core tower-base insulator with tower lighting transformer inside the insulator, (Photagraph courtesy of A. Q. Austin.) \ was i \ sf dts for the ocky Test, New York, hi Fis 1.90." Dota ahowing ih ssombly of wrest the sais nltor a the corer ae cnn Chatraphcoutey of CA Comment Montana fettopetet of antenna fa Fige TMV and Le Photograph courte of Royal Canadian Navy.) n LOW. FREQUENCY ANTENNAS re{ J. ie P antoonsa bmi aevoring to the dimensions of Fis. 15. am Naty) manana Fra. 149. Fon siee (Photagerp ror vy of Ryu Cone | : I | \ i I i \ for and the ond of the six-iee unbalanced unmatehod 15. Fee. fooler ” LOW- FREQUENCY ANTENNAS 7 Photograph courtesy of J.8. Fic. 1.42. Exannple of heavy fein on an Halt and C1. Souew.) Fro, 143, Anienna dowa-lesd detail for antenna built according to Figs 1.38 end 134, showing down-lead counterweight and preeaitions at tuning-house entrance for large currents and high potentials, (Photograph conctery of Koyal Canadion Navy.) if the conductors are overheated by sleet-melting currents when current is allowed to flow long after the ice has been removed from the wires. ‘This also points out the reason Wwhy it is essential to design sleet-melting circuits so that ice is removed uniformly from all the conductors of the system in about the same time—otherwise some of the conductors may be overheated before ice is removed from others,RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING % 8. Ashbridge, N., H. Bishop, and B. Bo M: * Tong-wave Transatlantic Radiotelephony, Bell Syterr Tech. J ba tesistanees, . Particular Application to the Radio Range Beacon, J, Research, Natl. B * Rugby Station, P.O, Blce, Eng. J April, 1910, p. 2 Pretonies, er ‘erials, abstract See ae Sins Pp SC TS ano tennas, Proc. JRE, 10 er UE, and E, M. Johnson, Performance of Short Antennas, Pro. RF, Oates, 108 a wae es eeFotmaton on Ais, BBC Quart 4, winter, 1950-385 intnieation, Gen. Elec, ity, Droitwich Brondeasting stem for 1, Apel, CHAPTER 2 Medium-frequency Broadcast Antennas 2.1. Review of the Development of Broadcast Antennas Prior to 1924, almost all engineering experience with antennas was derived from electrically short antennas of the type that had been used for low and very low frequencies since the dawn of radio. It seems remarkable that it required such a long time to develop the principles of the vertical radiator. ‘The recognition and proof of the theoretical aspects of vertical radiators, together with the realization of their practical forms, required soveral years. ‘The natural sequence of events was to apply to the broadeast fre- ‘quencies the same techniques of theory and construction that were com- mon to the low-frequency systems. ‘These antcitmas usually consisted of two or more towers or masts supporting an aerial system of wires com- prising the antenna, Also in conformance with typical low-frequency practice, these antennas were always operated at a frequency equal to or considerably less than their fundamental frequency. Little was known among practical engineers about radiation patterns ‘As designed, the radiation resistance of the original broadcast antennas was low, running from about 5 to 35 ohms, the larger of these values being rare. Ground-system design was still in the black-magic stage. With the exception of a few theoretical studies, made mostly by physicists, there was very little thought directed toward antenna development. What little text and reference material existed on the subject was per tinent to the low-frequency applications, the understanding being that as the frequency increased one simply used smaller dimensions. ‘The publication by Ballantine,"* 9° of two historic papers led to the development of the modern broadcast antenna. In one of these papers it was shown that for vertical antennas higher than one-quarter wave- length the radiation resistance continued to rise and went to very hig values when the height approximated one-half wavelength. ‘This then. Pointed to « method of increasing radiation efficiency by using antennas ”n RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING having a radiation resistance very large with respect to the ground resistance, the principal loss factor of the antenna system. A way was ‘at hand to make the radiation efficiency about as high as one wished, by employing vertical height sufficient to arrive at some desired! hirge value of radiation resistance. ‘The second of Ballantine's papers disclosed « hitherto unknown fact: there was an optimum height of vertical radiator for obtaining maximum ground-wave field strength. ‘This resulted from the space wave pattern produced by waves directly radiated above the ground interfering, with those reflected from the ground, ‘The result produced a vertical direc~ tivity which concentrated the radiant energy normal to the antenna, that is, along the surface of the earth, In a system such as broad- ‘casting, dependent on ground-wave propagation, the existence of an optimum height of antenna from a radiation-effectiveness viewpoint was of great importance. Still a third important consequence of Ballantine’s principle was, to appear later, As the power of broadeast stations gradually increased, the situation soon appeared where the ground wave was interfered with by waves reflected from the ionosphere. Intprference between these two waves produced serious selective fading at a rapid rate. In the annulue regions surrounding a station where both waves were of about feual intensity, destructive interference was maximum, and any eover- age in these regions was rendered virtually useless at night, This fading wall became a major obstacle to further increases in power, at least at hight. The only hope in sight was to use Ballantine's optimum-height antenna to reduce the amount of energy radiated skyward at high angles ‘and at the same time to increase the radiation along the ground. This should push the fading wall farther from the station, When practical meus Were found to construct antennas using this principle, this effect was indeed verified “The theory of the vertical radiator was developed around the condition that the current distribution along the antenna was sinusoidal from its upper end. It was believed, though not proved at that time, that the ‘current distribution was naturally sinusoidal, or very nearly s0, At that time, however, the practical realization of optimum-height vertical radiators was not at hand. The first applications of the new principle wore made to the T-Lype wire aerial operating at a frequency above its fundamental frequency and supported in the usual way by two high towers. ‘This gave a worth-vhile improvement in radiation efficiency but failed to provide sufficient reduction in fading. At this stage, the knowledge of wave propagation probably had not quite developed to the state where the fading-reduction properties of the optimum-height From 1925 to about 1930 the T antenna, antenna were apparent MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS 79 operating at ahout 134 timesits fundamental frequeney, was the donainant type of broadcast antenna, and many of the systems constructed diving. this period continued in use many’ years thereaftcr * _2ilal. The Tower Radiator. The next significant step in the progres sion of improvement was the advent, in 1930, of the guyed cantilever steel tower of a height in conformance with Balluntine’s optimam-height formula, which was five-cighths wavelength. At the same time, the use of an extensive system of long radial ground wires centered about the base of the intr was introduced, ‘This vas also an important ate Unfortunately, the original form ct cantilever radiator was not of uniform cross section, It tapered from a point resting on the base insulator to a maximum thiekness just below mid-height and then tapered again to a point at the lop. ‘The guys were attached at the waist, or maximum cross section point. This structure was a success meehanieally but did not yield full expected performance, because its double taper modified the current distribution ina way that reduced its vertical directivity. Nevertheless, this type of radiator performed sufficiently near to expcetations to provide a satisfactory proof of the antifading properties of such systems. The deficiency of the double-taper tosser was finally: verified by ficld-strength measutements in aiveraft- and by seale-model measurements of current distribution.” ~ Tower design then evolve to the form now prevalent, using ihe very slender self-supporting towers, or guyed towers of uni . very ae pporting towers, or guyed towers of uniform cross ‘The advent of the tower radiator was novel in yet another respeet— mast as a radiator had been tried as far back as 1906 at Brant Rock Prasat oad en fegy forse orion Te eco of the tower radiator are quite apparent. A tower radiator is loss costly Ahn to towers of similar height supporting a wire antonna. Pathe more, supporting, towers, being in the strong field of the anteni had large ewrrents induced in them, which made them coon ek tors and produced directive effects in the horizontal pattern which were often undesirable. ‘The tower radiator became essentially an ideal radia tor with electrical and mechanical requirements satisfied by a single steoture, ‘The ower radiator cold lo be adapted to sein directive arrays, Further study of the optimum-height antenna disclosed eventually that the conditions of maximum ground-wave field gain and best anti- fading characteristies were not obtained with the same height. ‘The height that gnve the highest field strength (225 degrees) had a rather large secondary lobe of high-angle radiation. ‘This lobe could be reduced© RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING. ‘at some small suerifiee in hori- toa point where its effect was negligible Lea zontal fickl-strength gain, ‘The optimrim choice for anti lished at about 190 degrees. or tightly over one- Sedlegree radiator has was exp half wavelength in height, Over salt water the 2: certain advantages, as will be explained later oo BDDC *° Venmical REIONT 6-DECKEES JG. 2A. Relative fold strength versus height of «uniform straight vertical radiator sida eursent distribution with: fons were introduced to obtain optimum- is we struetiines, us often necessi- height operation characteristies with shorter structiives, as of 's near the transmitter site. One form was the top-loaded ‘or which employed a horizontal circular steel capacitance vertical Subsequent special modific tical radi area at the top to substitute for a certain amount of missing height.2 ‘The amount of top loading was limited structurally to values ‘equivalent to 15 to 30 degrees of electrical height. When the top-loading structure was insulited from the tower and its reactance reduced by MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS eo means of a series inductance, its electrical effect could be somewhat enhanced. Another approach was to scetionalize the tower with insuki- tors at a point sumewhat above three-tenths wavelength from ground ert a series inductance to reduce the reactance of the upper section. ‘Phe whole tower could then be physically shorter than optimum height and still perform as an optimum-height antenna By about 1934, the modern broadeast radiator had evolved to its present state. The tower radiator vas the essential element for the directive broadcast antenna, which is presently of utmost importance in the development of ever-increasing broadcast serviees within the limited frequeney spectrum. "2.1.2, Development of Ground Systems. Tt has been known theo retically since the works of Pierce and Ballantine that, for the condition of perfcetly conducting flat ground, a very short vertical radiator will produce, within about 6 per cent, the same ficld strength as radiator one-quarter wavelength high for the same power input. ‘This is illus: trated in Fig. 2.1. For greater heights, the field-strength gain very slowly to well beyond three-eighths -wavelength. Only as the radiator approaches the optimum heights previously discussed does any real gain occur. ‘One important conclusion one draws immediately from Fig. 2.1 is that there is very little difference in the performance of a radiator in the range up to about 120 degrees from the standpoint of field strength. If we compare a 60-degree radiator with one of 120 degrees, the gain of the latter is trivial with respect to the increase in cost for a structure of twive the height. However, the bandwidth requirements of an antenna may dictate the use of higher radiators without regard to the comparative radiation efficiency. ‘The question naturally arises: Why not use very short radiators? Several factors make this impractical in most eases. ‘The shorter the radiator, the lower its radiation resistance. Practical ground systems can be constructed to have very low resistance, but as radiation resistance becomes very small, the ground resistance becomes an increasingly Important factor in the cireuital efficiency of the antenna system. For this reason it is difficult to realize the desited over-all circuital éfficieney, with the result that short. antennas are usually very ineffictent. Furthermore, very short antennas have very high reactance, 0 that high reactanees are needed for tuning. ‘The inductor loss therefore becomes large with electrically short radiators. ‘The low-resistance and high-reactance systems have relatively small bandwidth, also. Por these reasons a radiator for medium-frequency broadcasting is seldom made less than 60 degrees high.” RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING Since stations of low and medium power do not usually require anti= it was obvious that it would be desirable to investigate synthetic perfectly conducting grounds for obtaining optimurn effcieney from electrically short radiators. Experimental research and theoretical studies of carth currents near radiators of vatious heights yielded a simple tnd practical ground system that fully satisfied the requirements. ‘This svork® established immediately 1 uniform ground-system design for broad- cast stations in the medium frequencies. A system of 120 radial wires, spaced 3 degrees and having a Tengih of about one-half wavelength, ‘approaches the condition of a perfectly conducting ground within about 2 per cent for radiator heights of 45 degrees or more. Ground rods at radial ends and various other departures from simple straight. buried wires are of negligible benefit in such a system at the medium frequencies Diligent research and experiments have been conducted for other possible broadcast prineiples that might equal or surpass those diselosed by Ballantine? Various natural and unnatural current distributions have been studied and tried, as well as circles of radiators,* controlling the velocity of propagation and using great heights, Some such devices produce equivalent performance at much greater cost and design com- plication—others are definitely inferior. Only one form, the uniphased intenna developed by Franklin for high-frequency use, holds promise of surpassing the straight vertical antenna of uniform eross section and of hhcight 190 to 225 degrees. ‘The Franklin antenna is realizable at medium frequencies by extremely high structures, insulated at the current nodes ‘and tuned to produce uniphased currents on each side of such current yon modium-vave brondesst radiators thos n that happy state where, so it seems in the light of present knowledge, a standardized optimum design exists. Also, the optimum ground-system design esists. ‘These foptimum designs are practical, as proved by extensive application at hundreds of stations whose performance has been carefully measured ‘The design formula is very simple. The performance is predictable with very high accuracy, and this performance is very close to the theo retical maximum, Furthermore, the cost of such systems is within economieally practical values. While one may wonder, in reviewing this story of progress, why it took so long to solve such a simple problem, it ean be said that it is seldom in technology that stich an important problem is so completely solved in wa Directive Broadeest Arrays. In the midile of the 1920's spectrum congestion in the mediumefrequency broadeasting band began MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS 8 to be solved by the use of diveetive antennas, two or more vertical radiators, usually towers, disposed geometrivally and excited electrically to produce radiation patterns that control the field strength radiated toward another station. By this method, the interference can be maintained within presetibed limits in the area of other stations on the same or adjacent frequency assignments, ‘The success of the directive-antenna technique in Notth Ameriew has Jed to a much more intensive utilization of the available frequeney band than would have been possible otherwise. At the present time sev hundred broadcast stations employ directive s tion, administered under precise techn ‘These wore composed of al stems for mutual protec. al standards by international na engineering has developed rapidly under the ever-increasing complexity of the allocation situation as the number of stations in service increased, ‘The number of radiators needed to produce the more complex radiation patterns has been increasing by year until, at the present time, systems of nine radiators are being used or proposed, with even more extensive aystoms likely to be ued in the future. Appendix VIII is included to show the development of the 620-kilo- cycle channel as of 1949, using directive antenna 2.2. Pres ion of Medium-frequency Coverage ‘The antenna and the power of the transmitter determine the unat- tenuated field strength at unit distance, which we take to be 1 mile (1.61 Kilometers), Table 2.1 shows the theoretieal maximum field strength in nillivolts per meter at 1 mile with uniform-seetion vertical radiators for different practical heights (in electrical degrees) and different powers ‘These are the values one would measure on the I-mile circle around the antenna if the earth were a perfect conductor and the antenna system 100 per eent efficient. By propor design of ground system and proper choice of site, measurements corrected for attenuation within the first mile should approach these values closely. ‘The prediction of coverage proceeds diteetly from the use of ground- wave propagation curves, stich as those included in the Federal Com- munications Commission Standards of Good Engineering Practice Con- cerning Standard Broadcast Stations.*® Plotted for reference values of 100 millivolts per meter unattenuated at I mile, they show ficld strength versus distanee for soil conductivities ranging from the best esisting itt nature (over sea water) to values corresponding to the worst ordinarily“ RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING encountered, and for different frequencies between 550 and 1,600 kilo- 2.2 shows the curves for the range 970 to 1,030 kilocyeles, cycles. Figure e known throughout the region to be served If the soil conductivities uciours een METER Fie. 22, Ground-wave fiold-strength versus distance curves for 970 to 1,030 kilo Excios Dazed on 100 millivolts per meter unattenuated at 1 mile along the ground. (Federal Communications Commission.) by direct ground waves, the field strengths over a whole region ean be predicted. ‘When the electrical characteristics of the ground are not known, one swith long experience in such propagation problems can often estimate it from an examination of the soils and geology of a region. Otherwise, MEDIUN-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS as soil-conductivity measurements must be made. Conductivity? is not always the same over a large area, Whon it is not, x composite attenun- tion curve must be developed along exch radial from the antenna base to all points of prime interest. ‘The ground-wave propagation curves shown, in Fig. 2.2 are adjusted for the actual field strength at 1 mile for the frequeney, antenna, and power used, by proportion to the 100 millivolts per meter used for these curves. For example, if the expected field intensity at 1 mile is to be 1,100 millivolts per meter, then all field strengths will be eleven times those shown on the curves. ‘2.2.1. Field-strength Contour Mapping. ‘To construct a field-strength contour map of a station, a number of field-strength versus distance curves are measured and plotted for several radials from the antenna out to a distance where the signal approaches the ambient-noise level. The location of various field strengths can then be transcribed on a map and the various signal strength contours drawn in.** The choice of contours depends on the region, the population distribution, and the situation with regard to interference, if any, on the channel. ‘The usual purpose of such a map is to show service areas of different classes served by direct ground wave. These represent the daylight coverage, but not necessarily the nighttime coverage, because inter- ference between ground waves and sky waves eauses selective fading that may reduce the satisfactory service range appreciably under some conditions. ‘A typical example of the manner in which a composite-conductivity radial is computed is the following: A station on 1,000 kiloeyeles, operat” ing with a power of 10,000 watts with a vertical radiator 60 degrees high and an optimum ground system, is situated on a plain having a condue- tivity of 7 x 10- electromagnetic unit. Tn one direction, this condue- tivity extends for a distance of 6 miles, then becomes fresh water for a distance of 11 miles with a conductivity of 10 x 10-, From here on, there is sandy and rocky soil with an average conductivity of 2 X 10 *= In speaking of soll conductivity it must be remembered that itis not a “constant” but is actually function of frequency, in addition to being variable in dopth as well ‘ss in area, Boil texture and composition are likely to vary greatly with depth, as will also the moisture content, which affects both conductivity and inductivity. Since the depth of penctration of earth currents tends to be greater with lowering of frequency, the characteristics of the lower subsoil become increasingly important for the lower frequencies. At higher frequencies, penetration depth may be determined by the induetivity, especially where the water table is relatively near the surface. ‘The effective conductivity of any given soil is therefore an empirical value in ans ssiven area and eaninot be mensured statically by using small samples in thelaboratory When we speak of conductivity here, we refer to the actual effective value at a given frequency, taking account of the Fact that the effective conductivity of a particul soil will, in genceal, he different for other frequencies.« RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING Tanke 2.41. Uxarrexvarnn Binto Srussoris at 1 Mavi ekoxt Uxtronscceoss seerioy Vennicat Rantarons Havtva Besetratiy Stxcso1bat. CURRENT Distaincrios, as Feserioss or Euseraical, Hereur @ Deaenes aso Raotaten Powe (0 convert to the basis of | kilometer, multiply all values by 1.61, Field strengths ® |issley in 30 | 18.7/29.6 im 40 | 18.8] 29.7, | i333 % [iss fae i oo |1.0|20.1 |1.a0 70 | 19.1/30.2 1,357, % | 93 |%03 [30 ® [sas sr wm isles [iss uo [2.0 | 220 ie [es [ia wo (202 tao wo [ot i 150 | 21 |" sco | 22 in 170 | 22. tt too [33 It | i & (s lt ao |assfa 10 Bo [nals ts = me [mals | oes mo |is8 10 a [aa | jie 260 | 20. | 1,453 30 [2 o ‘The field at one mile, from Table 2.1, is 602 millivolts per meter. From Fig. 2.2 for 1,000 kilocycles and a conductivity of 7X 10", we find that the field strength has fallen to 11 per cent of the unattenuated value of 1 mile, or to 66 millivolts per meter at 6 miles. In passing over the fresh water a distance of 11 miles, a distance between 6 and 17 miles MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS ” Taio of tt h] ‘antenna, miles | water’s edge 17 miles ee eeter from antenna er me ol 1 5 os 6.2 0.16 a4 0.04 ee) 0.02 03 0.0064 0.006 If the ambient-noise level during daylight hours at a town on this radial at a distance of 150 miles averages 30 microvolts per meter, the signal-to-noise ratio average would be approximately 10 decibels. In the same way, each radial can be computed, and the service range of the station in terms of signal-to-noise ratios or in terms of actual field strengths can be determined. The same procedure is followed if x directive antenna is used, except that in the latter case the field strength along the ground at 1 mile will vary with the azimuth angle depending upon the directive pattern of the array. 2.2.2. Soil-conductivity Measurements. When the soil conductivities are not known, they must be measured in some manner. ‘The best known method is to use a test transmitter to radiate signals and to measure the field strengths with a suitable field-strength meter. If a test transmitter is used, it is best to operate at the frequency for which the data are desired. Sometimes measurements can be made on another radio station operating at some other frequency and the data converted to conductivity in the manner prescribed in detail in the FCC Standards of Good Engi- neering Practice Concerning Standard Broadcast Stations.** ‘This same procedure is standard with all nations that are parties to the North 1 Agreement (NARBA), For ordinary use where precision of the result is not important, and * This method is adequate for practical purposes when the differences in conduc: tivities for diferent portions of the ground path are siall, The method is subject to crtors of importance when, for example, a land path with a conductivity of 2 x 10-1" changes to sea water. Ih such eases, more accurate results may be obtained by ompating the same path in both dircctions by the method outlined, interchanging the locations of transmitter and receiver, and averaging the two curves point by: point along the radialee ‘RADIO ANTENNA INCE for longer distances from the transmitting site, the conductivity may be obtained by the ratio method. Measurements of field strength are made -distance intervals (such as every 5 miles on a known frequeney at lar oF more) and sufficient number of measurements made in each locale to establish a reliable average field strength at these distances, During the measurements the transmitting-antenna current is maintained at a constant value, Then, by taking the ratio of the measured fields at, say, 5 and-10 miles on the same radial ,one can refer to the ground-wave propagation curves for that frequency and find the conductivity curve that gives the same field-strength ratio for these same distances. The conductivity curve giving the same ratio may then be taken as the value of conductivity for this interval. The same is done for other intervals of distance. The intervals may be chosen according to convenience of access and measurement and would normally include regions of special interest in coverage studies. By this method, a few careful measurements can quickly establish a working value of conductivity to use in any subsequent studies. If the test frequeney is other than that to be used for operation, the value of conduetivity found is transferred to the propagation curves for the desired frequency and the field strengths calculated therefrom. If soil charac- teristies are obviously constant over a very large area, one ratio measure- ‘ment may suffice. Where the soil or topography varies in character, the ratios and conductivities for several intervals of distance are required, ‘As an example of how this is applied, let us assume that measurements of field strength were made on a frequeney of 1,000 kilocycles, and the result was a value of 17 millivolts per meter at 6.5 miles. At 13 miles the average value on the same radial was 485 millivolts per meter. ‘The ratio is 3.5. Looking now at the propagation curves for 1,000 kilocycles (Fig. 2.2), at these same distances, it is found that a conductivity of 4X 10~ electromagnetic unit gives this same ratio. This is taken as the conductivity for the terrain between 6.5 and 13 miles. ‘There is a practical preeaution to observe in this process. Since the field-strength ratios must be precisely determined (because a small dif- ference in the ratio may make a substantial error in the conductivity figure), care should be taken wherever possible to use distance intervals that will permit the.two sets of reusurements to be made on the same attenuator position of the field-strength meter. There is almost always ‘a small error between attenuator positions, which is ordinarily negligible but which in this type of measurement eannot be tolerated. - This error becomes inconsequential when large-distance intervals and higher fre quencies are used to give rather large ficld-strength ratios. ‘A more exact method of determining conductivity is that in which a MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS field strength in per cent of the fiekd str B85ee- | ue ts) 13] Lig 8 om o'r) 0.38 oan] 0.002 0 0 von 02 woo oot 8 8 1 2 5 10 2» Ey 100 200 500 ae Gnounosrave Prato Sransorit vusts Distasen amattennated) at 1 mile from the Conductivitios x 10-1 cleetromagnetie unit es} 49 26.4) 17.2 6.0] 3.35 1.58] 0.83 0.33] 0.200RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING 0 ‘Tamn 22. Gnovso-ware: Puvin Stamsern vies Distaxen, (Continued vit Distance, | Distance, So, pe (pra el lea) ot oll eal oo | 5,000 D. 1,210 kiloeystes per sevond se] 96] E, 1,380 kiloeycles per second 100) 97 1 Lat 30.8 2 a2 | ‘0 a8 45 ne 5 305 | me 16 as 10 er | 83] 00) zis) 071) 0.8 2 Ba | a9 suo) aan Tis) oy] 0.185) 0.118 Pi fs | ts, 0.77] o.3s| 0189) 0-001| 0.0205, 0.017 so | or | ozs] oar6l 0.068 0.027] 0.0125, 0 0030] 0.0082 gu azz | 0.28) 0.024 0.0080, 2030 00125900055 0.00082 foo | 05.0184 | 1,600 kloycls por second 1 tet | 10] 94 93, 8s), t5| at 2 3.22 sof 48) 43,—«87.5) 2 145) OF 5 go | maa] wo tal 62 25 16 10 1 10 66} 5.8 3.4] 1.54) 0.58) 0.39 2 B22 | as zs vse oo) 0.92 0.107 0.006 50 80.5 | 1.76, 0.57) 0.23 0.002] 0.044) 0.0106) 0.0127 1 | rer | 0.73) 0:113, 081, 0.018 0.0084 0.0037 0.0028 200 322 0.2150 0145)0.0013| 0..0018]0.00077/0.o9046)0.00028 a 805 | 0.011 1 10 ol 2 S| S| a8) al ws Py wo ‘se Ta) say ass] 1108 osm 20, 5 8.7) 27) 1.33| 0.650] 0.230) 0.144 2 1) ofl] ova] o'r] 0.00) 0.098 0 ca we | sar? | o's] att oce) 0 avons o-oo 02 200 | 322 0.24) 0.037] 0.012) 0.0044)0.00182}0 0070/0 00043 mo | a | 0.016 lige MEOIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS oy large number of field-strengih measurements are made along a radial line and the complete attenuation curve is plotted from these data out to any given distance, From such a curve, the slope as a function of distance indicates the conductivity, by direct comparison with the ground-wave propagation curves. When the measured cutve is plotted fon exactly the same paper as used for the reference propagation curves, and to the same scales, the conductivities ean be found by matching the slopes of the measured and reference curves, at the various distances. Table 2.2 provides the basic information for the plotting of accurate ground-wave propagation curves for the frequency range G00 to 1,600 Kilocycles.*® By interpolation between the values given, the values for all intermediate frequencies, conductivities, and distances ean be obtained. For practical use, these data can be plotted on log-log coordinate graph paper, one sheet for each frequency. Other sheets should be made for intermediate frequencies, since there is enough change with frequency to require a different curve about every 30 kilocycles in this band. 2.23. Intermittent Coverage from Sky Waves. In circumstances where cochannel interference at night is negligible, itis frequently desired to know what service can be rendered intermittently at night by sky waves, The variability of the ionosphere makes this a statistical problem. Considerable data on this type of propagation have been reduced to convenient curves. The FCC Standards of Good Engineering Practice Concerning Standard Broadeast Stations includes curves of sky-wave field strengths exceeding various percentages of the time from 5 to 95 per cent, for varying distances, Several representative values taken from these curves are given in Table 2.3. These data are used for allocation purposes in the 550- to 1,600-kilocyele band. If one wished to know approximately what field strength could be delivered to a locality at some particular distance such that the only signal received there would be sky wave at night 95 per cent of the time (corresponding to nearly 100 per cent reliable night signals), the values read from the curve are adjusted to correspond to the actual field strength delivered at. | mile in the right direction and at the proper vertical angle to arrive at the locality by reflection from the ionosphere. The vertical angle of radiation of the waves for a given distance may be determined by the curves of Fig, 2.8 From the ambient-noise levels, the signal-to-noise ratios for a certain portion of time can be calculated as a statistical average. To show how this information is used, consider the following ease: A station contemplates using 50,000 watts in a region where grade 4 noise (see Appendix VI-A to VI-D) prevails for more than 6 months a year. Iv is desired to deliver a semiservice at night in certain cities varyinga RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING in distance from 200 to 400 miles, What type antenna should be used, and what kind of service can be expected in these cities? (No inter- ference from other stations is encountered on the frequency to be used.) SINGLE REFLECTION RADIATION ANGLE oneAT cmELE DISTANCE so Basel {ew Bar «ord pee eee | dae 5 wot{—4 fs at as at Naa Te tor c _t 1" T Ps lor 1026 304050109200 $00. 1000-2800 ‘aear MELE OTANCE MILES. Fic. 2.8. Vertical radiation angles for sky-wave propagation. 7 From Fig. 2, the vertical angles of radiation for these distances vary from 30 to 15 degrees for a 60-mile-layer height, ‘The antenna used must therefore have strong radiation at these angles. Guided by information from Fig. 2.6, we select an antenna approximately one-half wavelength high to obtain good ground-wave efficiency and yet have adequately large ficld strengths at vertical angles as high as 30 degrees. Referring to ‘MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAS! ANON ~~ ‘Panux 23. Avensce Scxwave Feria Srmescrtt (Horns oF Danke (in per cont of feta steengeh 1 mile from antenna at eelevant vertical radiation ane’ . Value of fold strength exceeded Distance, | Distance, | Vertical --—— miles | Kilometers |, Tadlation 10 percent | 50 percent | 90 per cent Janate dees) time | oftime. | of tive ° ° 0-088 0.030 100 12 | | 0-088 0.030 200 324 | jf 9.084 0-035 400 os | 0-064 0.0200 600 2 0-12 0.0128 wm | ra | 62 | oon | oon | o0ors 1,000 1620 40 0.052 0.0135 | 0 0018 1,200 Lowe 20 0.019 0.0075 | 0.00255 1,400 2/268 02 0.0123 | 0.0088 | 0.00168 160 | 2502 | 0.0090 | 0.0034 | 0.00115 1,800 | 2,916, 0.007 | 0.0025 | 0.00085 200 | 3,240 0.0052 | 0.0020 | 0.00064 2/200 3,564 0.0041 | 0.0016 | 9.00016 8400 | 0.0033, 3808 | 0.0013 | _ 0.00083 ‘Table 2.1, for 50,000 watts radiated by an antenna 180 degrees high, the field strength along the ground at 1 mile, unattenuated, should be 1,675 millivolts per meter, At the vertical angles, the field strengths would be as follows: one Field at this distance Yerues!| Distance, || Fild att mite, | 50 percent of Anse | ios "| ives per meter) nighttime, millivolts per meter 13 | 460 4,480 0.730 20 350 1,320 0.925 25, 280 | 1,160 0.925 30 230 970 0.800 35 0 | 700 0.660 A minimum acceptable service requires a signal-to-noise ratio of 15 Accibels 90 per cent of the time. During the dark hours the above field strengths are essentially those which will provide such a ratio according to Appendix VI-I. During the months when grade noise exists, there is a somewhat better signal-to-noise ratio, provided that man-made94 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING noise does not dominate natural s tion is based. mospherie noise on which this informa: 2.3. Radiation Characteristics of a Vertical Raditor ‘The type of radiator that is generally used for medium-frequency broadcasting is the straight uniform vertical with its lower end ne: ground. This type is also used for certain limited applications at the higher frequencies, and to some extent at lower frequencies. Such antennas may be steel towers used as radiators or supported vertical wire antennas. Extensive experience has been gained with vertical radiators at many hundreds of broadcast stations, each employing one or ‘more for omnidirectional or directive radiation, ‘The radiation pattern for a vertical radiator is uniform in the horizontal plane (nondirective) but is directive in the vertical plane. The vertical directivity pattern depends on the distribution of currents in the radiator. If the radiator is of uniform cross section throughout its length, the current distribution is virtually sinusoidal; that is, the amplitude of the ‘current is a sinusoidal function of the electrical distance from its upper end, This approximation does not lead to very serious deviations from physical fact for ordinary engineering purposes, and the simplifications in computations are desirable. Pure sinusoidal distribution is the consequence of a pure standing wave on the radiator, which means that there are no losses whatever in the system. In fact, energy loss due to radiation and circuital loss requires that the actual current distribution be composed of a standing wave and a smaller component of traveling wave, the latter supplying the ‘actual losses. In measurements that have been made of current dis- tributions, the effect of the feed current due to the traveling-wave eom- ponent is conspicuous only in the region of a eurrent node, where instead (of the current becoming zero, as it would from a pure sinusoidal distribu- tion, it passes through a minimum value. At this minimum, the current thas changed phase by 90 degrees and is then in phase with the antenna potential. ‘The impedance therefore appears as a pure resistance at this point. Tt is very helpful to the antenna engineer to have a clear physical concept of the manner in which waves are propagated in a linear conduc tor such as a vertical radiator and how the potentials, currents, and antenna impedance vary with its electrical length. For engineering purposes, the concopt is sufficiently exact if the antenna is treated as an ‘open-ended transmission line of uniform characteristic impedan In Figs. 2.44 and 2.48 there is represented graphically the solution of the current and potential distributions and the vector relations between MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS aod potential and current at sll points slong a vertical radiator 190 degrees high. Figure 24 represents an attenuated traveling wave propagated in the antenna when excited by a generator connected between its hase and orenmiac vecron ~ Eden veo, YecTon aeenesenting ore POTENTIAL AND CURRENT Ie TIME PHASE 1 T0P veo igo 1 FosTiow aLous RAOIATOR I DEGREES ABOVE GROUND ‘simon ALONG RADIATOR IN DEGREE FW TOP END Fi. 244. "Development ofeurent and potatia istration on a unforin verte taitor 100 depres highs resenting the attenuation fa transmitted at reiectd Save of change when th radiator ied betrecn tase an gro round. For the time it takes to propagate this wave from the generator to the top of the antenna and back, the antenna appears to the generator as a resistance equal to its characteristic impedance. Therefore the potential and current vectors of the upward wave and the downward wave(ADI. ANTENNA ENGINEERING % RADIO ANTENW of charges are in phase. The envelope of these vectors of the traveling svave that goes up and down the antenna is @ logarithmic spiral Owing to the complete reflection of this traveling wave from the open end of the antenna, the veetor sum of the currents from the upward and 50 40 230 178 Iho" do. 20 err is tions on a uniform vertical Fra. 248. Development of current and potential distribu eisator 100 degrees high, representing the attenuation of «transmitted and reflected radistof gharges, when the radiator is fed between its base and ground. ypen end. This is the downward waves must cancel to zero at the 0 Nccomplished by a reversal of the current vector in the downwward wave ‘The potential vectors at the top add to double the potential of the travel- ing wave at that point. “The potential (and current) sums of the potentials (and currents) at that point due to the wp at any point in the antenna are the vector pward wave IREDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS ” and the downward wave with their propagation time-phase diflerences from that point to the top end and back again. This effect is Mustrated for the point 70 degrees from the upper end in Fig, 2.4.1, where the resultant potential at that point is shown to be obtained by adding the potential vectors for the two traveling waves and the resultant current by subtracting the current vectors. It is seen that at this point, the resultant current vector leads the resultant potential vector by an angle @ less than 90 degrees. ‘The antenna impedance at this point looking toward the open end is therefore R — JX. Figure 2.42 is a polar plot of the resultants of performing similar vector additions of the potential vectors and veetor subtractions of the current vectors at 1-degree intervals along the entire 190-degree antenna. ‘These relations are more accurately tabulated in Table 24. Since in this diagram we are using the electrical distance from the top of the antenna, the 190-degree point is at the base near ground where the system Taner 24 (Computed values based on a traveling-wave attenuation of 2 decibels per wavelength) Potential | Current Distance fom open | end, degrees | Phase, degrees Phase, degrees | Magaitude ° ° 88 ° 88 05 s 10 88.2 0 16 a3 o 3.0 $8.6 a 60 89 0 6 80.5 oo 90 0 io 162 0.6 no m a5, 120 113 oa 130 175 935 140 ela 180 n8 0.307 98.3 160 1s 0370 1018 170. 18 | 0.201 119 180 180 ons | 180 190 181.2 0212 240RADIO. ANTENNA ENGINEERING ” is usually fed, ‘Therefore the vector ratio Vizo/Zav represents the input impedance of the antenna between ground and its lower end. This of ‘course omits consideration of any additional stray eapucitance in parallel with this impedance which would be introduced by the physical construc- tion of an actual antenna. ‘When the resultant potential and current vectors of Fig, 2.42 are plotted as in Fig. 2.5, we see the potential and current distributions in the manner most frequently displayed and described. In this diagram, only the magnitudes are shown, whereas in Fig, 248 both magnitude and phase are shown. also. "The comparison with sinusoidal theory is indicated From Fig. 2.4B it ean be seen how the impedance looking toward the upper end from any point varies with the location of the point. Tt is evident that 1 [At all points less than 90 degrees from the upper end the impedance is R — jX and that R increases and X decreases as the distance from the end increases. ‘At the 90-degree point, the impedance is pure resistanee, and the ‘esultant potential vector has turned 90 degrees from the open end. Between 90 degrees and 180 degrees the potential vector leads the current vector so that the impedance looking upward from any of these points is R + jX, with resistance and reactance both inereas- ing with increased distance from the top. ‘At the 180-degree point the current is in phase with the potential and their ratio is such as to give an impedance that is « high value of fesistance. Therefore the reactance had to change from a high ‘value at some point less than 180 degrees to fall rapidly to zero at the 180-degree point. Beyond the 180-degree point we see the beginning of another eycle of events where the potential is falling, the current is rising, and the Current is leading the potential. It is evident, therefore, that Between 180 degrees and 270 degrees the antenna impedance would be R — 4X again, but with both R and X decreasing with increase of Tength. . . All these eycles of changing sign of reactance and changing values of resistance and reactance are typical of an open-cireuited trans mission line with attenuation. Qualitatively the analogy is satis- factory. Quantitatively the analogy fails to provide sufficient accuracy so that empirical data Tike that of Figs. 2.15 and 2.16 have to be used for enginecring-design purposes. MEDIUN-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS ” '80 wo fw gro | m Bio | B30 wis B 40 ra te Biso 1B 50 go tb coy Bio gt 8 1m 5 ge sigs Bio 21 $00 & gi0o Big 90 & Boo Et Bio F Boe! Bue & 2° gigs Em Fig E Boo Mt Ee 8 Bo | Fo Zao | ¥is0 go | die 27 Boo [Er Bio | Bro ° ' 20 boas to wane les 10.25. Comparisn of curent distributions for sine and actu relative vals on 190-degree uniform vertical radiator. eek a ‘ 2.3.1, Radiation Patterns for Sinusoidal Current Distribution. ‘The radiation pattern for a vertical radiator with sinusoidal current distribu- tion may be found from the following equation, in which @ may be any value, large or small, and a is the angle above the horizon: cos G sin a) — cos G ‘cos a(l — 608 G) fla) = When @ = 90 degrees (height is one-quarter wavelength), this reduces to 2 length), this equation cos (90 sin a) Sle) When G = 60 degrees, the following equation may be used for the vertical radiation pattern: fla) = cos100 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING “These equations only give the shape of the pattern in relative values of field strength Figure 2.6 shows the vertical patterns, in rectangular coordinates, for vertical radiators from 45 to 225 degrees high, based on sinusvidal current distribution. Table 2.5 gives the relative values of the vertical pattern, in more convenient form for computational purposes, For eight 120 [ [| 1 los fos : Th z a \ i Ba : “ANGLE ABOVE: VAN a er Z | cant ea F stcee) | Fic. 2.6, Relative vertieal radiation patterns for vertical radiators with sinusoids! ‘current distributions for various electrical heights (6). different heights corresponding to those of most frequent application for broadcasting. In this table are included the approximate values of the patterns in the region of a pattern null, which is the result of the fact that in practice the current never is zero at a node. The occurrence of a minimum instead of zero current at a node in the radiator produces an analogous effect on the radiation pattern, in that the pattern will have minimum instead of a complete null. ‘The phase of the electric field goes through the same kind of transition in passing minimum as did the phase of the current in passing anode. There is a minimum in the vertical radiation pattern for every current minimum along the radiator. MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTERNAS Broadcasting applications almost never make use of radiators having more than one node, not counting the one that exists at the top of the antenna. ‘The node at the top of the part as a null in the pattern directly above the vertical radiator, or where 90 degrees. jenna has its radiation counter- ‘Tamer 2.5. Veutrcat Raoratios Parress eo Viwricat, Raprvrons o Dirvemst veraicat, Heccitts wrrtt Stssotbat- Ccaees® Disranpcrions =| om | 2 | a0 | sso" | rest | 180" | 0 | 1.000 | 1 1.000 | 1 = °. 10 | 0.080 | 0.976 | 0.970 | 0.961 | 0.954 | 0.043 0-028 15° | 0.958 | 0.950 | 0.937 | 0.913 | 0.800 | 0.878 | O84 29° | 0.029 | 0.016 |O.88s | 0.851 0.820 | 0.785 | 0.731 25° | 0.800 | 0.869 | 0.833 | 0.777 | 0 730 | 0.683 | 0.616 | 30° | 0.845 | 0.816 | 0.768 | 0.095 | 0.615 | 0.578 | 0.400 | || (0-510) ast | 0.702 | 0.756 | 0,702 | 0.610 | so | 0.368. | 40° | 0.735 | 0.095 | 0.029 | 0.527 | 0.488 | 0.370 | 0.255 | om | ©3003] @:21t| @ sm 45° | 0.673 | 0.628 | 0.554 | 0.436 2i8'| 0.150 | 0.008 50° | 0.607 | 0.559 | 0.483, czall 3 | 0.203 | 0.081 | —0.068 | 225)3) (0.125) (0.100% set | 0.536 | 0.488 | 0.413 | 0.301 135 | 0.022. | —0.115 cor | o.46t | 0.sis | 0.343 | 0.235 | ost | 0.017 | —0.143 | | 110)¢} 0.080) | (~0.200)$ ost | 0.288 | 0.315 | 0.281 | 0.187 | 0.032 | 0.010 | —0 149 ro |o.gi2|o.21 /0.218 | 0.140) 0.025 | -9.018 | ~0.138 | |pemee| (0.050): | (.075)2 75°] 0.207 | 0.201 | 0,162 | 0.005 | 0.058 | 0.010 | -0.017 | ~0.113 80° | 0.158 | 0.138 | 0.106 |,0.068 | 0.036 | 0-003 | ~0.035 | 0.082 85° OD 0.053 | 0.031 | 0.017 | 0.001 | -0.020 | -0.0%8 w jo jo jo jo 0 jo ° ° + }190 } ass | 203 | ate | 225 | 235 | 200 265 362 402 425 L Cnattenuated field strength at 1 mile with 1,000 watts radiated, in milivelts por te 1 Unattenuated field strength at 1 kilometer with 1,000 watts radiated, in millivolts por meter, + [0c jae | s26 | 348 1 Figures in parentheses represent very neatly the actual values encountered ti practice, taking inte account the deviation from sinusoidal eurrent distribution due to ‘radiation losses in the antenna, shown only where the differences are of importa, Having now the shape of the vertical patterns for simple vertical radia tors, it remains to set the actual values of ficld strength that will yesult from a given power radiated from a given vertical radiator. Table 2.1102 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING ives the values of unattenuiated field strength at the surface of the ground at a distance of 1 mile frum the radiator, for various values of @ and power radiated ‘A radiator of nonuniform cross section has a current distribution that departs from sinusoidal distribution from trivial to considerable amounts, depending on the gcometry of the radiator. The distribution then becomes empirical and has to be solved as an individual case. ‘The resulting vertical pattern is also empirical, Solutions for such cases have been published. Tt can be seen from the figures in Table 2.1 that the vertical directivity has an important influence on the horizontal field strength at 1 mile ‘The effect can be seen more clearly in Fig. 2.1, which shows the field strength at unit distance as a function of electrical height G for constant radiated power, using three different radiator heights as 100 per cent. 2.3.2. Choice of Vertical Radiation Pattern. An intelligent choice of 1 vertical radiation pattern for a particular application is made only after ‘8 computation of the ground-wave and sky-wave field strengths over the desired propagation paths. These two wave fields are separately com- puted, and special attention is directed to the distances at which their ratio is less than 2 to 1, because objectionable selective fading will occur at night at these distances. The location of this fading ring, or fading “wall” as it is often called, sometimes can be adjusted by the choice of vertical radiation pattern (o fall where the least number of listeners is, located. ‘The variability of the sky-wave field strength from day to day will cause this fading ring to move about accordingly. Over ground where the direct wave is very rapidly attenuated, the fading ring may be quite narrow Consider a simple case of & broadcast station on 1,000 kilocycles in the center of a region having a uniform conductivity of 4 X 10-* electro- magnetic unit, The station will operate with a power of 10,000 watts It is desired to see what the coverage will be with an antenna of 60 degre height compared with one of 190 degrees. Tt is assumed that there are no regulatory reasons why either cannot be used. It is a grade 3 noi area. ‘The data of Fig. 2.7 are computed and plotted from the vertical patterns for these two antennas and the ground-wave and sky-wave propagation information and noise data provided, using the given power and frequency. ‘The direct ground-wave intensity for the 60-degree radiator reaches the 15-decibel signal-to-noise threshold of 560 microvolts per meter at a distance of 49 miles, and for the 190-degive radiator at 55 miles. ‘The 60-degree-radiator sky wave, for 10 per cent of the time at night, equals the ground-wave field strength st distance 49 miles (where it is also NEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS 13 noise-limited) and the fading ring for 2 to 1 ditvet and indirect signal ratio extends from 30 miles to 62 miles 10 per cent of the time. For 50 per cent of the time, the center of the fading ring would be at about 73 miles and the near edge of the ring under these conditions at about 57 miles. 100 90% avTenna or antenna i | [oss con . Ne vexotinenoy aue 1.0 Umit oF 15 db 5x IN GRADE 3 ‘NOISE AREA AT NIGHT Ss LZ. emer I SSE 60° ANTENNA 1 shes see! [OS arom soso ra | os ee, 0354050 O70 MILES FROM ANTENNA’ Fie. 2.7. Ground-vave and sky-wave eueves for 10 kilowatts radiated from a 60- degree and a 100-degree radiator wheres = 4 X 10-'*sleetromagnotic unit, J = 1,000 kiloeyeles, in grade 3 noise area. In this zone it appears that the signal is n limited, with this power. For the 190-degree radiator, the sky-wave fields are not shown beeatise it is known immediately from the chart thus far eomputed that the signal imited before it is fading-104 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING will be severely noise-limited before arriving at the distance where fading, is objectionable ‘his example was chosen to demonstrate the influence of natural atmospheric noise on the solution of « problem of this type. One ean readily see that, under these circumstances, it would be wasteful to invest ina 190-degree radiator when a 60-degree radiator will provide essentially the same fading-frec and noise-free coverage. However, this example should not be used for any conclusion for other cases without completely calculating the problem in the manner outlined. The use of lower powers and higher frequencies in regions of lower conductivities and equal or higher noise levels would always show poot justification for expenditures for high radiators. For higher powers on lower frequencies, in regions of lower noise lovels and higher conductivities, there would almost always be a case to justify investments in higher radiators. Intermediate combinations of frequency, power, conductivity, and noise conditions will always require specific detailed study of the actual data before « decision ean be made. Some marginal intermittent service is given by daytime sky-wave propagation due to E-layer reflections. ‘The computations for such propagation ean be made by reference to the data published by the Cen- tral Radio Propagation Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards, following the methods used for computing high-frequency propagation. The effects of E sporadic layers may also be computed from these data. 2.3.3. Shunt-fed Radiators. A grounded vertical radiator may be shunt-fed as shown in Fig. 28. With shunt feed," the radiator is grounded at its base, and the system is excited at the point where the shunt-feed wire is connected. By using # sloping wire, as shown in B fof Fig. 28, a number of wire lengths and tapping points are available. ‘The feed wire acts as a transformer which is adjustable over a certain range, In typical use, the feed wire is adjusted to bring predetermined value of resistance at the input, which may be the value necessary to terminate a given transmission-line characteristic impedance. There is always an inductively reactive component of impedance present also, which is neutralized by a series capacitance. Any radiator ean be shunt- fed in this way, provided that an adjustment ean be found that will give ‘a desired input impedance, or more usually it is necessary only to provide a given resistance component. ‘A shunt-fed vertical radiator does not use base insulators and therefore does not require any isolation circuits for tower-lighting circuits or for any top-mounted very-high-frequency antennas that may be present. By virtue of its direct grounding, it is somewhat less vulnerable to lightning MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS, 0s damage than a series-fod radiator, However, with a direct Fighting hit on the tower, destructive potentials are sometimes transferred to the input to the feed wire, so that sifoty from lightning damage is not as complete as might he supposed ‘A given vertical radiator, arranged for series feed, will have a series impedance at its base, which we shall designate as Zs, at a specified ‘When this same radiator is grounded and fed with a sh it is adjusted to give an input impedance Z, feeder thus acts as a transformer which converts Zs to Zou. An equiva- [—rower eaviaron—+| 101 To FEEDER | .ToFeeDeR (0 FEEDE! 77, TTTTTTRITE @ center reeo @® SwoPING-wiRe FEED Fic, 28, Shunt-fed vertical radiators, lent circuit of such a transformer can be derived as a network, in the form of a T or L. While the transformation ratio is known, the phase shift between the current at the feed point and the current in the radiator is indeterminate. ‘The optimum application for shunt feed is with a vertical quarter-wave radiator working into a low-impedance feeder. When the radiators are considerably more or less than 90 dogrees high, the feed-wire adjustment requires that the loop formed between the feed wire, the radiator, and ground become relatively large, and this loop becomes a considerable radiator itself, modifying the intrinsic radiation properties and the current distribution of the radiator below the tapping point. ‘The quarter-wave shunt-fed radiator is the unbalanced analogy to the delta feed so commonly used for horizontal dipoles at high frequencies, In the latter system, the shunt feed is balanced. In both eases; the ‘transforming action of the shunt fced is relatively small, and the reactive component introduced by the feed wire is not excessive, giving input impedances of relatively high power factor. Furthermore, the feed loop isnot sufficiently large to cause excessive radiation, though there is some.108 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING ‘The amount of parasitic radiation that ean he tolerated from the feed loop is something the designer must decide, In broadcast applications, radiation from the feed loop causes: the vertical radiation pattern for a single radiator to be distorted and elimi- nates the cone of silence directly ahove the radiator. High-angle radia- tion is therefore increased in all vertical planes, especially at the very high angles where, with series feed, the field strength would be zero. LIDEAL VERTICAL PATTERN FFOM SNUSODAL, THEORY ‘2NEASURED PATTERN NORMAL TO FEED-WRE PLANE + SMEASURED PATTERN IN PLANE OF FEED-WiRE Ftc, 2.9, Comparison of measured vertieal patterns from seres-fed and sloping-wire shunted midiator of same height. Figure 2.9 shows the measured vertical-plane patterns for a shunt-fed vertical half-wave radiator in the plane of the feed wire and in the pl normal to the feed wire. For comparison, the normal series-feed pattern is also shown by the dotted line. Figuro 2.10 shows the measured current distribution along the vertical radiator which gave these radiation pat- tems, The distortion of the current distribution is rather extreme owing. in part to the shunt feed and in part to the structural taper for this particular tower, which was self-supporting and tapered from 40 feet per side at the base to 1.5 feet per side at the top, 800 feet above ground. ‘These data were obtained by model measurements by Brown and Epstein of the RCA Laboratories (not published), simulating an actual tower under study. ‘They found that the area of the feed loop for this antenna could be greatly reduced by running the feed wie up the center of the tower, as shown in Fig. 2.8, instead of using the usual external sloping wire, This made a eonsicleruble improvement in the measured vertical MEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS 107 radiation patterns, proving that radiation from the sloping feed-wire loop, was an important modifying factor in the entire radiating system. ‘The current distribution for these tavo types is ilustrated in Figs. 2.11 and 2.12, Running the feed wire up the center of the tower seems very desirable when shunt-fed radiators are used in a dircetive array requiving, moderate or high degrees of radiation suppression at. some angles. Shunt-fed antifading antennas introduce three factors that require special attention in design. One is the modification of the current dis- VI “\ \ 34] jo - i —t al Lay - LN DISTANCE FROM GROUND (FEET) Fic. 2.10, Measured current distribution on vertical radiator shunt-fed and producing the patterns shown in Fig. 2.9 (curves 2 and 8). tribution in the radiator below the feed point, which causes the current at the base of the radiator proper to be many times that present with seties feed. This requires attention to reducing ground-system resistance ‘as much as possible to maintain high radiation efficiency. ‘This ean be done by using a larger number of longer ground wires. ‘The other point is the appearance of relatively high potentials at the feed point due to its high reactance when adjusted for the usual 50- to 70-ohm resistance to terminate a coaxial fecder. ‘The high potential encountered at the feed point is the consequence of the feed current flowing into the high react- ance of the input impedance. Precautions must be ineluded to accom- modate this condition, which in itself docs not present a very dificult problem. ‘The same factors that give a high input reactaneo will also contribute to selectivity. Attention must therefore be directed to this aspect of the application whenever bandwidth has to be considered. ‘The shunt-fed radiator is a system which appears to be more simpleroel RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING Fic. 211, Measuced vertical patterns for axial shunt-fed vertical radiator. ANTENNA CURRENT 8 Ee , al 100305 “400500600705 DISTANCE FROM GROUND (FEET) x? Measured radiator current distribution for system producing the pattern Fic, 212. of Fig. 2.11 than it actually is, It must therefore be applied with eaution in exacting circumstances. For instance, the use of the sloping-wire feed on an anti- (ing radiator nullifies some of the important properties for which such a radiator is used. Asan element ina directive array, it is cumbersome to design because all available reference data on which the performance of » directive array is predicted are for series feed, Shunt feed introduces the MMEDIUM-FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS 109 impedance-transformer action, which is difficult to predict, especially when mutual impedances are taken into account. ‘The stoping-wire feed, in addition to modifying the vertical pattern of each radiator, will introduce mutual impedances between feed wires which will, in general, be indeterminate during the design stage of the work. The coupling circuits must therefore be designed after measurements have been made on the final radiator system, ‘There is also the complication that the phase and amplitude relations of the currents at the feed points will not be those prevailing in the radiators, and itis necessary to monitor radiator currents on the radiators above the tapping point. ‘The design of a directive atray of shunt-fed elements will usually require an enormous expenditure of engincering effort that may offset any structural economy However, these remarks should not discourage the application of the shunt-fed radiator in eases where its simplicity and economic advantages can be realized and where the detrimental factors discussed are of minor importance. 2.3.4, The Folded Unipole. An alternative method of shunt feeding a vertical radiator one-quarter wavelength tall is that shown in Fig 2.13, which may be called a folded unipole, from very-high-frequeney terminology. By this mothod; which is one-half of a folded dipole, the total antenna current is divided between two conductors which are paralleled at their current nodes (at the top), and power is fed into one leg only. As with a folded dipole, the resistance at the feed point in one log increases in proportion to the inverse square of the current ratio for the fed wire. This is evident from the following, Let Ke represent the base resistance of the radiating system operating usa simple series-fed antenna, and let Is represent the total base antenna ‘current when the system has a power input of HW’ watts, When excited asa folded unipole, the total antenna eurrent for the same power input will be Zo as before, except that, with one conduetor grounded and the other fed by the transmitter, the latter earries only a portion If of the total current. ‘Then, if 1, designates the input resistance when excited as ‘folded unipole, R Ro ap ‘The value of M will differ with the relative radii of the two conductors id will be 0.5 when the two conductors are identical, so that the total ‘mtenna current is equally divided between the two. However, when ‘one conductor is a grounded quarter-wave tower and the other is a wire, the great disparity in radii will cause the value of M to be very much less than 0.5, If the tower and the “drop” wire were both continuous uni-0 RADIO ANTENNA ENGINEERING form-seetion cylindrical conductors, the value of M could be obtained from the relation 1 M= - logs 14— logis ES oe where pr is the radius of the larger conductor, py the radius of the smaller conductor, and @ the axial separation between the two. However, if a evtncek sora ns eS Be 58 aE wea] ee nee Pane od recone TUTTTOTTTTT a ® 10. 2.13. Folded unipole principle for shunt-feeding vertical radiators stecl tower that is not eylindrieal is the larger conductor, an approximate Value of ean be found by supposing the tower to be equivalent to & cylinder with the same seetional periphery. ‘A large tower and a small drop wire, as shown in Fig, 2.134, will often yield rather small values of JY. If one wishes to raise the value of MM, two of more drop wires may be used, all insulated from the tower through- out their length except at the top and connected together at the bottom, ‘where they are fed, as shown in Fig. 2.138. ‘Thus the transformation ratio of the drop wire ean be varied more of less at will to bring a pre- desired value of resistance at the feed point. This may be a value of resistance that will directly match a given feeder characteristicimpedance. “This method is best adapted to quarter-wave uniform-section radiators which ate self-resonant by virtue of their height. Tapered towers be made to be substantially of uniform section by using other drop wires suspended from n spreader at the Lop having the sume width as the tower MEDIUM. FREQUENCY BROADCAST ANTENNAS Mm base and connecting these wiros to the tower proper. Then the addli- tional drop wires for forming the unipole are affixed where they will not interfere with the former. Figure 2.14 F 4 shows a pli view of a tapered square radiator using drop wires for feeding and to equalize the tower cross section. ToP view EL OUTRIGGER TOWER WITH TAPERED |/ Fe ero 4-8 pRop wines--|———- Suspenceo From SuTriccer [7 garam ste DROP WiREss FEED poINT TOMER connecTED To /. SROUND SYSTEM ore OTTO, Fie. 2.14, Method of transforming «tapered tower to one of nearly uniform clctiea section and using the folded unipole feed. - A folded unipole of this type allows all of the conveniences afforded by the use of directly grounded towers without compromising the natural cient dstbutos or ineduciog batters tortion rs sping wire. The input impedance ean be made almost purely restive with ‘alue that will diectly match open-wire feeders. of common types designed for the proper characteristic impedance. aa 2.4, Impedance of Uniform-cross-section Vertical Radiators ‘Tho series impedance of a vertical radiator is a function of several Variables, of which the dominant ones are the height, the longitudinal