ANTENNA INTRODUCTION An Antenna plays a dual role in both transmitting and receiving system. They are most efficient when resonant (automatically controlled) to the frequency being transmitted or received AIM The aim of this lecture is to highlight the various means of using an antenna effectively and its characteristics. Characteristics have refers to those defects that could occur due to some circumstance and in other hand those rules that guide this effective performance. DEFINITION An antenna is a transducer which converts electrical power from a transmitter into a radiated electromagnetic energy or converts energy into a minute RF voltage in the receiver. CATEGORIES OF ANTENNA There are two main categories of an antenna, which are listed as follows. a Ground wave antenna b. Sky wave antenna a. The ground wave antenna This antenna works effectively at about 30 - 60 mhz on the earth surface and can be used for technical surveillance. Ground wave propagation follows the contour of the earth a The sky wave antenna. This antenna works effectively and is used by aeroplanes which move far in the sky above the earthmosphere. Also this wave uses reflection by both earth and ionosphere. TYPES OF ANTENNA 1 Monopole or Dipole Antenna: Is a type of dipole antenna formed by replacing one half of the dipole antenna with ground plane at a right angle to the remaining half. If the ground plane is large enough, the monopole behaves exactly like a dipole because its reflection in the ground plane forms the missing half of the dipole.2. Yagi Antenna: This type of antenna provides signal range than the omnidirectional antennas, which receive signal from any direction and transmit in a 360° pattern. Popular uses for Yagi antenna include OTA television, amateur and CB radio and of course cell phone reception. 3 Ground plane Antenna: This is a form of dipole antenna designed to work with an unbalanced feed line. A ground plane antenna is more or less one of the dipole and mounted above the ground plane. Ease of fabrication and cost makes the ground plane antenna one of the popular antennas in communication system. 4 Para-bolic Antenna: A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola to direct the radio waves. The most common form is. shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or parabolic dish. 5. Satellite Antenna: These antenna is a device mainly responsible for receiving or transmitting high frequency electromagnetic waves from the earth to satellite that orbit in free space, and adapting these frequencies so that they can be distributed over coaxial cable network. ANTENNA PROPAGATION An antenna works at about 186,000 mile per second between the transmitting and the receiving stations a. Installing antenna. ‘There are three things to be considered in antenna. Passive mechanical, Active mechanical and the Electrical. b. Transmitter power and receiver sensitivity (Tx power). The rate at which the transmitter could transmit effectively and the rate or the sensitivity of the receiver to receive radiated energy from the transmitter. Skew effects This occur as a result of those natural or artificial structures e.g valley, mountains, sky scrapers, rocks and wind etc. which obstructs sound wave travelling over a long distance. Even the weather can obstruct sound wave.Hot Spot This is the transmission effects which occur when atten . uated . along a free space is intercepted by land surface irr ularties and nels while reformed in a normal cause making reception louder and clearer pelt line path forming orientation and remain polarized cle! Dead Spot As a result of the interception caused by the loud surface irregularities to the attenuated signals. The sound waves are scattered but could not come back together. Signals is dispolarized and lost its orientation this making reception impossible. Antenna Height Theorically if both transmitting and receiving antenna are 5Sft above the ground. The maximum range is 3 miles radius