Portable Wideband Directional Antenna Scheme with Semicircular Corrugated Reflector for Digital Television Reception

Abstract

This research proposed a portable wideband horizontally-polarized directional antenna scheme with a radome for digital terrestrial television reception. The operating frequency band of the proposed antenna scheme is 470-890 MHz. The portable antenna scheme was an adaptation of the Yagi-Uda antenna, consisting of a folded bowtie radiator, a semicircular corrugated reflector, and a V-shaped director. Simulations were carried out, and an antenna prototype was fabricated. To validate, experiments were undertaken to assess the antenna performance, including the impedance bandwidth (|S11| ≤ -10 dB), gain, and unidirectionality. The measured impedance bandwidth was 75.93%, covering 424-943 MHz, with a measured antenna gain of 2.69-4.84 dBi. The radiation pattern was of unidirectionality for the entire operating frequency band. The measured xz- and yz-plane half-power beamwidths were 150°, 159°, 160° and 102°, 78°, 102° at 470, 680, and 890 MHz, with the corresponding cross-polarization below -20 dB and -40 dB. The radome had a negligible impact on the impedance bandwidth, gain, and radiation pattern. The power obtained for the outdoor test, at 514 MHz, was 38.4 dBµV (-70.4 dBm) with a carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N) of 11.6 dB. In addition, the power obtained for the indoor test was 26.6 dBµV (-82.2 dBm) with a C/N of 10.9 dB. The novelty of this research lies in the concurrent use of the Yagi-Uda and bowtie antenna technologies to improve the impedance bandwidth and directionality of the antenna for digital terrestrial television reception.