School of Electrical, Electronics
And Computer Engineering
Communications 3
Transmission Media and antenna System
7 – Element Yagi with Folded Dipole
SUBMITTED BY:
Balcos, Daniel Luis
Navarro, Marc Ernest
Quilatan III, Crisostomo
ECE123 – B14
ENGR. Flordeliza L. Valiente
PROFESSOR
December 2012
December 12, 2012
Engr. Flordeliza Valiente
Instructor
School of EE-ECE-CpE
Mapúa Institute of Technology
Muralla Street
Intramuros, Manila
To Engr. Flordeliza Valiente:
We are submitting our report entitled “7-Element Yagi with Folded
Dipole” and our antenna design as a partial fulfillment of the
Communications 3 Lecture course requirement.
The main purpose of this report is to apply our knowledge of
antennas specifically the Yagi-Uda array and folded dipole to
create a 7-element Yagi antenna wherein the folded dipole will
serve as its driven element.
In this regard, we would like to extend our gratitude for giving us
this project which equipped us in designing and making an
antenna.
We hope that this report will meet your approval.
Respectfully yours,
ECE123 / B14
Balcos, Daniel Luis B.
Navarro, Marc Ernest S.
Quilatan III, Crisostomo
Theories and Principles
A Yagi array, commonly known simply as a Yagi antenna, is
a directional antenna consisting of a driven element (typically a
dipole or folded dipole) and additional parasitic elements (usually
a so-called directors and one or more reflector). In this antenna
assigned to the group, it can be seen that there are five directors,
one feed element which is the folded dipole and also a reflector
which is comprises the 7-element yagi antenna with folded dipole.
Yagi antennas are directional along the axis perpendicular to
the dipole in the plane of the elements, from the reflector toward
the driven element and the director(s). Typical spacings between
elements vary from about 1/10 to 1/4 of a wavelength,
depending on the specific design. The lengths of the directors are
smaller than that of the driven element, which is smaller than
that of the reflector(s) according to an elaborate design
procedure. These elements are usually parallel in one plane,
supported on a single crossbar known as a boom.
The bandwidth of a Yagi antenna refers to the frequency
range over which its directional gain and impedance match are
preserved to within a stated criterion. The Yagi array in its basic
form is very narrowband, with its performance already
compromised at frequencies just a few percent above or below its
design frequency. However using larger diameter conductors,
among other techniques, the bandwidth can be substantially
extended.
The driven element of a Yagi is the equivalent of a center-
fed, half-wave dipole antenna. Parallel to the driven element, and
approximately 0.2 to 0.5 wavelength on either side of it, are
straight rods or wires called reflectors and directors. A reflector is
placed behind the driven element and is slightly longer than 1/2
wavelength; a director is placed in front of the driven element
and is slightly shorter than 1/2 wavelength. A typical Yagi has
one reflector and one or more directors. The antenna propagates
electromagnetic field energy in the direction running from the
driven element toward the director(s), and is most sensitive to
incoming electromagnetic field energy in this same direction.
The Yagi antenna not only has a unidirectional radiation and
response pattern, but it concentrates the radiation and response.
The more directors a Yagi has, the greater the so-called forward
gain. As more directors are added to a Yagi, it becomes longer.
Some Yagi antennas have as many as 10 or even 12 directors in
addition to the driven element and one reflector. Long Yagis are
rarely used below 50 MHz, because at these frequencies the
structure becomes physically unwieldy.
Figure 1: Basic Elements of a Yagi Antenna
The Yagi antenna consists of a single 'feed' or 'driven'
element, typically a dipole or a folded dipole antenna. This is the
only member of the above structure that is actually excited (a
source voltage or current applied). The rest of the elements are
parasitic - they reflect or help to transmit the energy in a
particular direction. The length of the feed element is given in
Figure 1 as F. The feed antenna is almost always the second from
the end, as shown in Figure 1. This feed antenna is often altered
in size to make it resonant in the presence of the parasitic
elements (typically, 0.45-0.48 wavelengths long for a dipole
antenna).
The element to the left of the feed element in Figure 1 is the
reflector. The length of this element is given as R and the
distance between the feed and the reflector is SR. The reflector
element is typically slightly longer than the feed element. There is
typically only one reflector; adding more reflectors improves
performance very slightly. This element is important in
determining the front-to-back ratio of the antenna.
Having the reflector slightly longer than resonant serves two
purposes. The first is that the larger the element is, the better of
a physical reflector it becomes.
Secondly, if the reflector is longer than its resonant length,
the impedance of the reflector will be inductive. Hence, the
current on the reflector lags the voltage induced on the reflector.
The director elements (those to the right of the feed in Figure 1)
will be shorter than resonant, making them capacitive, so that
the current leads the voltage. This will cause a phase distribution
to occur across the elements, simulating the phase progression of
a plane wave across the array of elements. This leads to the
array being designated as a travelling wave antenna. By choosing
the lengths in this manner, the Yagi-Uda antenna becomes an
end-fire array - the radiation is along the +y-axis as shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 2: Example of a 7-Element Yagi-Uda with Folded Dipole
It can be seen on figure 2 an example of a 7-element yagi-
uda with a folded dipole as a driven element. It consists of 5
directors, a reflector and a driven element which is a folded
dipole. The path of the forward direction is in the path where the
directors are placed.
Design Considerations and Descriptions
The design of the antenna is limited to an operating
frequency of 174MHz up to 890MHz. The operating frequency of
the antenna is computed to be 394MHz, while the wavelength of
the antenna is 0.76m. The length of the folded dipole is computed
by getting half of the wavelength of the antenna which is 38.1cm,
while the length of the antenna reflector is 41.9cm.
The length of the first director is 34.3cm, the second director
is 32.6cm, the third director is 30.9cm, and the fourth director is
29.2cm and lastly the fifth director which is 27.5cm. The group
had observed a normal spacing of 0.1λ which is 7.5cm. The total
length rf the antenna boom length is 50cm.
Design Calculations and Limitations
fc =√(174MHz)(890MHz)= 393.52255 MHz
8
c 3x10 m/s
λ= = = 0.76235 m
fc 393.52255Mhz
λ 0.76235 m
lfolded dipole = = =0.38118 m= 38.1 cm
2 2
lreflector =.55λ=.41929 m= 41.9 cm
Directors:
ldir1 =.45λ=0.34306 m= 34.3 cm
ldir2 =.95ldir1 = .95(0.34306)=0.32591 m= 32.6 cm
ldir3 =.90ldir1 = .90(0.34306)=0.30875 m= 30.9 cm
ldir4 =.85ldir1 = .85(0.34306)=0.2916 m= 29.2 cm
ldir5 =.80ldir1 = .80(0.34306)=0.27445 m= 27.5 cm
S=0.1λ=0.07624 m= 7.5 cm
ABL=(n-1)S=(7-1)0.15247=0.45744 m= 0.5 m
Antenna Diagram
50 cm
27.5 cm
7.6cm
29.2 cm
7.6cm
30.9 cm
7.6cm
32.6 cm
7.6cm
34.3 cm
7.6cm
38.1 cm
7.6cm
41.9 cm
Pictures
List of Materials
Aluminun Tube
Boom
Boom Cap
Screws
Coaxial Cable (2 meters)
80.00 Php
Balun
Copy of Receipts
