High performance underwater UHF radio antenna development

In the context of future scientific oceanic observatories, this work concerns the development of a UHF radio antenna compatible with deep underwater transmissions. It aims to allow rapid transmission of large size files and real-time video. The solution under development is based on a radiating excitation isolated from the sea water by a buffer. The system presents several advantages: lack of sensitivity to sea water variability, robustness to axial rotation and to alignment between emitter and receiver, and ease of integration into classic underwater equipment. First measurements on a simple prototype present a bandwidth of 70 MHz around 2.4 GHz, appropriate for Wi-Fi communications.