Introduction to Antenna Placement and Installation

Thereza M. Macnamara attained her first degree in applied physics and her master’s degree in microwaves at London University. After two years of teaching physics up to Advanced level, she worked as a microwave engineer at G&E Bradley. She then worked as a research physicist for Morganite Research and Development before returning to work as a microwave engineer, working on a standard field facility, waveguide components, thermistor detectors, and calibration at Wayne-Kerr Laboratories, Flann Microwave Instruments ad Bradley Electronics. After a short break to have a family, she returned to work as an examiner at the British Patent Office and lecturing in mathematics and physics whilst her children were growing up. She then took up a post as a senior RF engineer at ERA Technology, where she worked on antennas, feed networks and as an EMC engineer, before taking up the post of an electromagnetic specialist at BAE Systems where she worked fro 17 years. Whilst at BAE Systems she worked in the R&D department and on Nimrod, Typhoon, Harrier, Tornado and Jaguar aircraft, and then became the technical coordinator of the EU funded research project IPAS (Installed Performance of Antennas on AeroStructures). Apart from many technical papers, she has also authored a reference book on EMC, entitled “Handbook of Antennas for EMC”.

• About the Author. Preface.Series Preface.1 Basic Antenna and Propagation Theory.1.1 Introduction.1.2 Characteristics of Electromagnetic Waves.1.3 Interaction between Two Waves.1.4 Polarization.1.5 Characteristics of an Antenna.1.6 Propagation.References.2 Aircraft Systems Using Antennas.2.1 Aircraft Systems.2.2 Frequencies of the Most Common Aircraft Systems.2.3 Automatic Direction Finding.2.4 Distress/SOS.2.5 Distance Measuring Equipment.2.6 Electronic Counter Measures.2.7 Electronic Support Systems.2.8 Emergency Locator Transmitter/Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.2.9 Global Positioning System.2.10 HF.2.11 Instrument Landing System.2.12 In-Flight Telephony.2.13 Microwave Landing System.2.14 Radar.2.15 SatCom Civilian.2.16 Signals Intelligence.2.17 Tactical Air Navigation.2.18 Traffic Collision Avoidance System.2.19 Telemetry.2.20 UHF.2.21 VHF Comms.2.22 VHF Omnidirectional Ranging.2.23 Equipment Designation.References.3 The Antenna Siting Process.3.1 Introduction.3.2 New Antenna Layouts.3.3 Optimum Positions for Blades.3.4 Design Phase.3.5 Certification and Qualification Phase.3.6 Typical Antenna Layouts.References.4 Frequency and Spatial Coverage Considerations.4.1 Introduction.4.2 Effect of the Structure on the Spatial Characteristics of the Antenna.4.3 Combination of Two Waves.4.4 Measurements on Scaled Test Bodies.4.5 Effect of Frequency on the Radiation Pattern.4.6 Effect of Distance from Obstacles.4.7 Effect of Wings on the Radiation Pattern.4.8 Effect of the Curved Ground Plane and the Electrical Dimensions of the Fuselage.4.9 Radiation Patterns on Cylinders in the Absence of Obstacles.References.5 Antennas Used on Aircraft.5.1 Introduction.5.2 Near and Far Fields of an Antenna.5.3 Antennas on Aerostructures.5.4 Polar Radiation Patterns.5.5 Dipoles.5.6 Monopoles.5.7 Loops and Notches.5.8 Helixes.5.9 Flat/Planar Spirals.5.10 Patches.5.11 Aperture Antennas.5.12 Reflectors.5.13 Waveguide Fed Antennas.5.14 Model Numbers Used by Different Manufacturers.References.6 RF Interoperability.6.1 Introduction.6.2 Coupling between Systems on an Aircraft.6.3 Techniques for Achieving RF Interoperability.6.4 Modulation.6.5 Coupling due to Radiated Emissions through the Antennas.6.6 Coupling between Systems with LOS Antennas.6.7 Coupling between Systems for Antennas on Opposite Surfaces of the Fuselage.6.8 Existing Formulas Used for Calculating Coupling between Two Antennas on Opposite Surfaces.6.9 Derivation of an Empirical Formula that Correlates with the Measured Data.References.7 Computer Modelling Techniques.7.1 Introduction.7.2 Overview of Computer Modelling.7.3 Generic Types of Computer Modelling.7.4 Method of Moments.7.5 Finite Difference Time Domain.7.6 GTD/UTD.7.7 Physical Optics.7.8 Hybrid Methods.7.9 Comparison of Predicted Surface Currents.7.10 Code-to-code Comparison of Radiation Patterns Predicted on the Simplistic Airframe.7.11 Relationship between Number of Unknowns and Surface Area.References.8 Measurements.8.1 Introduction.8.2 Positioners.8.3 Test Facility Antennas.8.4 Scaled Models.8.5 Scaled Antennas.8.6 Absorbers.8.7 Measurement Facilities.8.8 Indoor Test Facilities.8.9 Anechoic Chambers.8.10 Compact Ranges.8.11 Near-Field Facilities.8.12 Outdoor Far-Field Ranges.8.13 Ground Test Measurements.8.14 In-Flight Measurements for System and Inter-System Testing.References.9 Reference.9.1 Centigrade to Fahrenheit Temperature Conversion.9.2 Conductivity of Common Metals.9.3 Degrees to Radians and Radians to Degrees.9.4 Dielectric Constants and Loss Tangents of Common Materials.9.5 Electrochemical Series.9.6 Electromagnetic Spectrum and Frequency Bands for Different Nomenclatures.9.7 Formulas.9.8 Frequency to Wavelength.9.9 Gain in dB and Gain as a Linear Ratio.9.10 Greek Alphabet.9.11 Imperial to Metric Conversions – Distance, Area, Volume, Speed.9.12 Periodic Table Alphabetically.9.13 Polarization Matching Matrix.9.14 Power in dBm and Power in Watts.9.15 Preferred SI Scientific Prefixes.9.16 Terms and Definitions.9.17 VSWR to Return Loss.Appendix: Abbreviations and Acronyms.Index.

"In summary, this book provides an excellent reference and source of information for a specialised subject. It will be a very useful resource for any design organisation involved in the installation of antennas on aircraft." (The Aeronautical Journal, 1 October 2011)