International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vol. 2, No.

2, April, 2010
1793-8163

Design Development of Antenna for TV

Transmission for Connecting Outdoor Broadcasts
Van to the Studio for Rural Areas
Jagdish. M. Rathod, Member, IACSIT, IETE (I), IE (I), BES (I)

suited for wideband communications systems [6].

Abstract—Imagine the world without Antenna there will be TABLE 1. COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT ANTENNAS
no effective wireless communication between two entities. It is
the wireless communication, which effectively brings the whole Antenna Radiatio Power Directivity Polarization
n Gain
world together. So Antenna is a very useful & essential device Patterns
for effective communication. The patch Antenna is a low Dipole Broadsid Low Low Linear
profile, simple in construction, low weight, and smaller in size e
Antenna. So it can be used in high performance Aircraft, Yagi Endfire Mediu Medium/ Linear
Spacecraft missile applications, WLAN and many more. Antenna m/High High
Rectangular patch is the most popularly used and easy to Slotted Broadsid Low/M Low/Medi Linear
design. We have used probe feed method for feeding. We have Antenna e edium um
designed Microstrip rectangular patch Antenna of the center
frequency 750 MHz, we have employed dielectrics as FR4 PCB. Microstri Endfire Mediu Medium Linear
Patch fed via a semi rigid coaxial cable of 50 ohms Impedance. p m
Antenna
One side fully copper plated PCB acts as ground plane for the
patch.
Microstrip antenna is also referred as a patch antenna See
Index Terms —Bandwidth, Feeding, Gain, Microstrip, Patch. in Fig 1. It consists of a very thin (t << λ0 where λ0 is the
free – space wavelength) metallic strip (patch) placed a
small fraction of a wavelength (h << λ0, usually 0.003λ0 ≤ h
I. INTRODUCTION ≤ 0.05λ0) above a ground plane. The Microstrip patch is
designed so its pattern maximum is normal to the patch
Antenna is a very important component of
(broadside radiator). This is accomplished by properly
communication systems. By definition, an Antenna is a
choosing the mode (field configuration) of excitation
device used to transform an RF signal, traveling on
beneath the patch. In designing Microstrip antennas, a
conductor, into an electromagnetic wave in free space [3].
number of substrate can be used. The dielectric constant of
The transmitter signal energy is sent into space by a
the substrate usually ranges of 2.2 ≤ εr ≤ 12. Thick
transmitting antenna; the RF signal is picked up from space
substrates whose dielectric constant is in the lower range is
by a receiving Antenna. The voltage is induced into the
the most desirable for antenna performance because they
receiving Antenna (a conductor), as the electromagnetic
provide better efficiency, larger bandwidth, loosely bound
field arrives at it. The RF voltage induced are then passed
fields for radiation into space, but at the expense of larger
into the receiver and converted back into the transmitting
element size [1].
RF information. The Antenna must be able to radiate
efficiently so the power supplied by the transmitter is not
wasted. An efficient transmitter must have exact dimensions
[4]. The dimensions are determined by the frequencies and
gets critical at higher frequencies. Microstrip antennas can
be made to emulate many of the different styles of antennas
explained above. Microstrip antennas offer several tradeoffs
that need to be considered. Because they are manufactured
with PCB traces on actual PCB (Printed Circuit Boards)
boards, they can be very small and lightweight. This comes
at the cost of not being able to handle as much output power Fig.1 Microstrip antenna
as other antennas, and they are made for very specific
frequency ranges [5]. A. Different Shapes Of Patches
In many cases, limiting the frequencies that can be The radiating elements and the feed lines are usually
received is actually beneficial to the performance of a radio. photo etched on the dielectric substrate. Patch shapes are
Due to this characteristic, Microstrip antennas are not well versatile in term of resonant frequency, polarization, pattern
and impedance. The radiating patch may be square,
Manuscript received August 16, 2009. This work was supported by rectangular, thin strip (dipole), circular, elliptical, triangular
SICART and B V M Eng College-V V Nagar-India. or any other configuration. These and other are illustrated in
Jagdish. M. Rathod is with, Department of Electronics Engg, B V M Fig 2.
Engg College, V V Nagar-Gujarat-India,
251
 International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 2, April, 2010
1793-8163

same substrate to provide a planar structure.

Fig.2 Common shapes of Microstrip patch elements

Square, rectangular, dipole (strip), and circular are the Figure 4-Microstrip Line Feed
most common because of ease of analysis and fabrication,
and their attractive radiation characteristics, especially low So this is easy feeding scheme, since it provides ease of
cross polarization radiation [7]. fabrication and simplicity in modeling as well as impedance
matching. However as the thickness of the dielectric
B. Operation of Microstrip Antenna substrate being used, increases, surface waves and spurious
In Microstrip antenna, the electromagnetic (EM) wave feed radiation also increases, which hampers the bandwidth
fringe off the top patch into the substrate, reflecting off the of the Antenna. The feed Radiation also leads to undesired
ground plane and radiates out into the air. Radiation occurs cross polarized radiation.
mostly due to fringing field between the patch and ground.
B. Coaxial Feed
Fig 3. Shows the operation of Microstrip antenna.
As can be seen from the Fig .5, the inner conductor of the
coaxial Connector extends through the dielectric and is
soldered to the radiating patch, while the outer conductor is
connected to the ground plane.

Fig.3 Operations of a Microstrip Patch

The radiation efficiency of the patch antenna depends

largely on the permittivity (εr) of the dielectric. Ideally, a
thick dielectric, low εr, and low insertion loss is preferred
for broadband purposes and increased efficiency.

Fig 5 Coaxial probe feed

III. FEEDING METHODS The main advantage of this type of feeding scheme is that
Feeding methods influences the input impedance and the the feed can be placed at any desired location inside the
polarization characteristic. Feeding methods can be patch in order to match with its input impedance. This feed
classified into two categories, contacting and non – method is easy to fabricate and has low spurious radiation.
contacting schemes [1]. In contacting scheme, the RF power It provides narrow bandwidth and is difficult to model since
is fed directly to the radiating patch using a connecting a hole has to be drilled in the substrate and the connector
element such as a Microstrip line. In non contacting scheme, protrudes outside the ground plane, thus not making it
EM field is done to transfer power between the Microstrip completely planar for thick substrate (h>0.02λ).Also, for
line and the radiating patch. There are four most popular thicker substrate, the increased probe length makes the input
structures that are used to feed Microstrip antenna. They are impedance more inductive, leading to matching problems. It
Microstrip line, coaxial probe, aperture coupling and is seen above that for a thick dielectric substrate, which
proximity coupling. Microstrip line and coaxial cable are provides broad bandwidth [2].
contacting scheme while aperture coupling and proximity
C. Aperture Coupled Feed
coupling are the non – contacting scheme.
In this type of feeding techniques, the ground plane
A. Microstrip Line Feed separates the radiating patch and the Microstrip feed line.
A conducting strip is connected directly to the edge of the Coupling between the patch and the feed line is made
Microstrip patch as shown in Fig 4. The conducting strip is through a slot or an aperture in the ground plane. The
smaller in width as compared to the patch. The advantage of amount of coupling from the feed line to the patch is
this feeding method is that the feed can be etched on the determined by the shape, size and location of the aperture
252
 International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 2, April, 2010
1793-8163

see in Fig 6.
TABLE 2. COMPARISON THE DIFFERENT FEED TECHNIQUES

Fig. 6 Aperture coupled Feed

Since the ground plane separates the patch and the feed
line, spurious radiation is minimized. Generally, a high
dielectric material is used for the bottom substrate and a
thick, low dielectric constant material is used for the top
substrate to optimize radiation from the patch.The major
disadvantage of this feed technique is difficult to fabricate Before the validation process of design, it is important to
due to multiple layers, which also increases the antenna identify the fundamental aspects, specification and
thickness. This feeding scheme also provides narrow parameter of the proposed antenna configuration. This is
bandwidth [10]. important to make sure that the simulation and fabrication
process is carried out correctly.
D. Proximity Coupled Feed
This type of technique is also called as the
electromagnetic coupling scheme. As shown in Fig 7, two IV. DESIGN METHODOLOGY
dielectric substrates are used such that the feed line is
During the progress of the project, the design
between the two substrates and the radiating patch is on top
methodology used will be as shown in below Fig 8. The
of the upper substrate. The main advantage of this feed
project starts with the study and literature review related to
technique is that it eliminates spurious feed radiation and
get the fundamental knowledge about Microstrip antenna.
provides very high bandwidth (as high as 13%), due to
Then the configuration to be used for the antenna as well as
overall increase in the thickness of the Microstrip patch
the related basic parameters and specification is set as
antenna. This scheme also provides choices between two
desired. The validation starts with the simulation process by
different dielectric media, one for the patch and one for the
using the PCAAD software in order to confirm that the set
feed line to optimize the individual performances. Matching
parameters can produce a result as desired. Finally, actual
can be achieved by controlling the length of the feed line
fabrication and field measurement is carried out and
and the width-to-line ratio of the patch. The major
comparison with the simulation result is done.
disadvantage of this feed scheme is that it is difficult to
fabricate because of the two dielectric layers, which need
proper alignment. Also, there is an increase in the overall
thickness of the antenna. In Table 2 we can see the
Comparison of the different feed techniques

Fig 8. Methodology flowchart

The Microstrip antenna is tuned to operate at 750 MHz

the material to be used is FR4 with dielectric constant of
4.34 and thickness of 1.6 mm. In choosing the material the
constraints in term of material cost and time is considered
[8]. Feeding technique using a coaxial probe feeding is
used. Using this technique, the inner conductor of the coax
Fig.7Proximity – coupled Feed
is attached to the radiating patch while the outer conductor
is connected to the ground plane. This feeding method is
chosen mainly due to its easy fabrication process. Other
advantages of coaxial feeding are its robust nature, can be

253
 International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 2, April, 2010
1793-8163

place d at any desired location for input impedance resonant frequency. Usually it is found practically that feed
matching, good isolation between the feeding network and point is found at one third of the length and width of the
the radiating element that contributes to a good front to back patch. And to get exact location of the feed point a trial and
ratios and minimum misalignment difficulties due to direct error method is used, i.e., to compare the return loss (R.L.)
contact between the probe and the patch. and select the feed point where the R.L is most negative.
Approximately Xf= 3.15cm, Yf= 4.07cm
A. Calculation of Different Parameters
B. Steps for Antenna Designing
Operating Frequency: 750MHz • Develop schematic diagram
Dimensions: 94.5mm 122.3mm 1.6mm • Convert to board layout
Reading Distance: 0.5m • Optimize board layout
Impedance: 50Ω • Use laser printer to print layout to Peel-n-Press
Polarization: LINEAR paper
• Clean copper clad PCB material with steel wool
The width of the Microstrip patch antenna is given • Iron Press-n-Press to copper clad PCB material
by[ 7 ] , • Quench PCB material under cold water, remove
peel-n-pres
(1) • Etch in ferric chloride, illustrated in Fig. 9
Where, c= 3 10 m/sec, Fr= 750 MHz, εr= 4.34So,
w= 0.1223m or w = 12.23.
Effective dielectric constant ( ): following equation
gives the effective
Dielectric constants as [ 7 ],
= 1 12 (2)
Substitute the value of εr ,h, w. we get εreff =
4.22 ,Element
extension length due to fringing effects: the equation
given Fig. 9 Etching process using the ferrite chloride
By [ 7 ] ,
. . . • Clean etched PCB
ΔL (3) • Use steel wool and water to remove peel-n-press
. .
coating
Δ 7.4681 10 m or Δ 0.7468 mm
Final length[ 7 ] : Equation below gives the Final length • Drill hole where we have to feed
as, • Install probe connecter through hole
• Solder inner conductor to patch and outer
- 2Δ (4)
conductor to ground plane, illustrated in Fig. 10
L= 0.09450 10 cm or L= 9.450 cm • Final design of Antenna(PCB), illustrated in Fig.
11
Ground plane dimensions (Lg and Wg):

The transmission line model is applicable to infinite

ground planes only. However, for practical consideration, it
is essential to have a finite ground plane. It is known that
similar results for finite and infinite ground plane can be
obtained if the size of the ground plane is greater than the
patch dimensions by approximately six times the substrate
thickness all around the periphery. Here we assume the
length and width of the ground plane is equal to the
wavelength of the Antenna. So equation for Lg and Wg is
same[ 7 ] ,
Lg= Wg= (5)
(a)Patch
Where, c= 3 10 m/sec
Fr= 750 MHz, So ,Lg = Wg= 40cm

Determination of feed point location (Xf , Yf):

A coaxial probe type feed is to be used in this design. The

center of the patch is taken as the origin and the feed point
location is given by the co-ordinates (Xf , Yf) from the
origin. The feed point must be located at that point on the
patch, where, the input impedance is 50 ohms for the
254
 International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 2, April, 2010
1793-8163

Fig.14 VSWR plot

(b) Ground plane
B. Measured Results
Fig.10 Final design of antenna In following Fig 15 we have mentioned a Measured
Radiation pattern

V. RESULTS & DISCUSSION

A. Simulated Results
All simulated results are possible with the help of
PCAAD5.0 software; these are visualized in following
manner Fig. 11 Polar pattern plot, Fig. 12 Rectangular polar
plot, Fig. 13 3D pattern plot, Fig.14 VSWR plot [9].

Fig.15 Measured Radiation pattern

C. Measured Parameters
• Beam width: 31; -3dB @ 343°, 14
• Front to back ratio: 30.40
Fig. 11 Polar pattern plot • Directive gain: Maximum gain: 30.4dB @ Azimuth
angle: 0°
• Side lobe angle: 260°
• Front/side lobe: 30.40
With, the Tx dipole
• Max. Receiving current is: 15µA
• Distance between both antenna is: 15cm
• Input current: 50µA
• Gain of half wave dipole is 2.15dBi=1.64
So, Directive Gain of Rectangular Patch Antenna= 4.06=
6.0dBi

Fig. 12 Rectangular polar plot

Fig.16 Setup for Testing an Antenna

IV. CONCLUSION
Fig. 13 .3D pattern plot
Simulation and actual hardware measurement was carried

255
 International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 2, April, 2010
1793-8163

out in order to study the use of the probe coupled

configuration that combined with the Microstrip antenna
design. The purpose was to enhance the bandwidth
performance up to the wideband level. The theoretical
analysis is presented in the paper, including resonating
frequency and substrate parameters influence on the antenna
performance. The substrate thickness and loss is taken as the
most significant design parameters. Both the Simulation
analysis and the measurement results on a fabricated
antenna show that employing moderate thick microwave
substrate with small loss tangent helps to enhance the
impedance bandwidth and the gain of the Microstrip
antenna.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Author would like to thanks Principal & H.O.D,
Electronics Department of B.V.M.Engg.College,
V.V.Nagar- Anand-Gujarat-India for their support and
Encouragements, and Electronics Department of
B.V.M.Engg.College, V.V.Nagar for given testing and
development facility for this work. I am also very thankful
to the institute name as SICART-V V Nagar-Anand-
Gujarat-India for their necessary help.

REFERENCES
[1] I.J.Bahl, P.Bhartia.”Microstrip Antenna”, Artech House,pp(44-55)
1980
[2] Kin-Lu Wang.” Compact and Broadband Microstrip Antenna” John
Willy & Sons, pp(1-12)Inc.2002
[3] J.D.Kraus.”Antenna”, Tata Mc-Hill, New Delhi,2002
[4] C.A.Balanis.”Antenna Theory”, John Wiley & Sons Inc.
[5] N.N.Rao,”Elements of engineering Electromagnetic”, PHI-India,
2000
[6] Robert.E.Collin,”Foundation for Microwave Engineering”, IEEE
press-2001
[7] Ramesh Garg, Prakash Bhartia, Inder Bahl, Apisak Ittipiboon,"
Microstrip Antenna Design handbook," Artech House Inc. 2001
[8] Girish Kumar, K.P.Ray,"Broadband Microstrip Antennas,"Artech
House Inc. 2003
[9] PCAAD 5.0, Antenna Design Associates, Inc.55 Tea waddle Hill
Road Everett, MA 01054
[10] D. M. Pozar “Microstrip Antennas” Proceedings of the vol. 80, no 1,
January 1992,pp no:79-91

Jagdish M.Rathod is born in 1972 at Mumbai-

India .He has received his Bachelor of Engg & Master
of Engg in 1995 & 2005 with respectively in
Electronics & Communication Engineering.He is
working as a lecturer in B V M Engg College since
1997.He got Fourteen years of experience as a lecturer.
He is pursuing his PhD since Oct-2006 in Electronics & Communication
from S P University-V V Nagar-Gujarat-India. He is a Life member of
I.E.T.E & IE (I) & I.S.T.E., IACSIT, BES like official organization.He has
published a Fourty number technical and fundamental research papers in
national and International journals and conferences up to till this date

256