Rear-window heater antennas for mobile radio and for broadcast reception

Aerials which employ the conductors of the rear-window heaters of motor vehicles have been developed recently for broadcast reception at low and medium frequencies and v.h.f. This paper describes the techniques used to optimize their performance and presents results from a production saloon car. An experimental rear-window heater aerial for transmitting and receiving in the v.h.f. low band is described and the conflicting constraints of efficiency, bandwidth, power-handling and cost are discussed. Test results are presented for a hatch-back vehicle and compared with those from roof and wing-mounted whip aerials.