Analysis and measurements for improved crank-line antennas

This paper describes the radiation characteristics of crank-line antennas radiating a circularly polarized wave. First, the radiation efficiency versus substrate permittivity is evaluated. Second, a 12-cell crank-line antenna of substrate permittivity ε_r=1 and antenna height B=λ_11.85 is investigated as a reference antenna, where λ_11.85 is the wavelength at a frequency of 11.85 GHz. It is found that the main beam direction of the reference antenna varies 7° over a frequency range of approximately 6%, with an axial ratio of less than 3 dB and a gain of approximately 21 dB. Third, attention is paid to the gain behavior versus the antenna height. A way to increase the gain by modifying the antenna height is proposed. An increase of 1.5 dB from the gain of the reference antenna is demonstrated. Finally, the axial ratio, gain, and decoupling factor for crank-line antenna arrays are presented and discussed