An HF multiband wire antenna for single-hop point-to-point applications

Multiband, as opposed to broadband, antennas can be employed usefully at HF, particularly in tactical and temporary point-to-point applications, if sufficient consideration is given to both ionospheric and geographical conditions. A multiband wire antenna which contains no loading elements nor requires any separate lumped impedance matching networks is analysed and a design methodology is presented. A graphical approach, based on the Smith chart, was used to determine design limits and then a computeraided procedure optimized the design and developed the various relationships between the antenna elements. Experimental results confirming the validity of the design procedure are included.