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lab2

This document outlines Experiment 2 for ECE422H1S at the University of Toronto, focusing on antenna arrays using half-wave dipole antennas. It details the equipment needed, calibration procedures, and step-by-step instructions for setting up and measuring two-element and four-element linear arrays with various configurations. Additionally, it includes questions for analysis and comparison of theoretical expectations with experimental results.

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Mondher Dhaouadi
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© © All Rights Reserved
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4 views

lab2

This document outlines Experiment 2 for ECE422H1S at the University of Toronto, focusing on antenna arrays using half-wave dipole antennas. It details the equipment needed, calibration procedures, and step-by-step instructions for setting up and measuring two-element and four-element linear arrays with various configurations. Additionally, it includes questions for analysis and comparison of theoretical expectations with experimental results.

Uploaded by

Mondher Dhaouadi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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U NIVERSITY OF T ORONTO

FACULTY OF A PPLIED S CIENCE AND E NGINEERING


The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

ECE422H1S: R ADIO AND M ICROWAVE W IRELESS S YSTEMS

E XPERIMENT 2: A NTENNA A RRAYS

1 Introduction

The purpose of this laboratory is to learn about antenna arrays realized from half-wave dipole
antennas. You will investigate several linear array configurations studied in class, and characterize
their patterns using procedure you have learnt about in Lab 1.

You will need the following pieces of equipment to complete this experiment:

• Agilent network analyzer


• SMA calibration kit (short, open, load, through)
• Planar half-wavelength dipole antenna
• Planar Yagi antenna array
• Microstrip patch antenna
• 2-way Wilkinson power divider (3-port board with oval-shaped trace on it)
• 4-way Wilkinson power divider (5-port board with oval-shaped trace on it)
• Quadrature hybrid (3-port board with square-shaped trace on it)
• 2 mounting tripods and associated hardware
• 2 SMA cables
• 5 UFL cables and SMA-to-UFL adaptors
• Various printed delay lines (2-port boards with microstrip lines printed on them)
• UFL removal key
• 1 metre ruler and masking tape
• Computer running MATLAB or Microsoft Excel, for recording data
2 Before You Start

Before beginning the experiments, calibrate the network analyzer from 800 MHz to 1 GHz ac-
cording to the instructions attached at the end of this document. After calibrating the network
analyzers, determine the frequency at which the Yagi antenna and the dipoles are operating by
measuring their input reflection coefficient, and setting the marker to report measurements at this
frequency.

3 Two-Element Linear Array

3.1 Two-Element Array with d = λ/2 and α = 0◦

1. Attach two dipoles to the support beam with spacings of λ/2. Using tape to fasten the dipoles
to the beam.

2. Mount the array beam on the pedestal. The setup should resemble Figure 1, but should only
contain two elements.

3. Connect the dipoles to the two-way Wilkinson power diver using UFL cables.

4. Connect the input of the hybrid to the Reflection port using an SMA cable.

5. Align the dipole such that the arms are in parallel with the arms of the Yagi when the tripod
pedestal is at 0◦ .

6. Press [MEAS] and select S21.

7. Press [FORMAT] and select Log Mag.

8. Press [MARKER] and set the marker to the resonant frequency of the Yagi antenna.

9. Record the s21 value measured by the network analyzer.

10. Rotate the pedestal by 15◦ .

11. Repeat 9 and 10 until you have completed 360◦ of measurements. It is only necessary to
characterize the co-pol characteristics of the array.

Plot the pattern and compare it to the theoretical pattern expected from a half-wave dipole array in
this configurations.
3.2 Two-Element Array with d = λ and α = 90◦

Repeat the procedure in Section 3.1 but change the array spacing to d = λ. How many lobes do
you observe in the pattern? Compare measurements to theory and comment one what you observe.

3.3 Two-Element Array with d = λ/4 and α = 90◦

Repeat the procedure in Section 3.1 but change the array spacing to d = λ/4. To introduce the
90◦ degree phase difference between elements, use a quadrature hybrid (with the isolated port
terminated in a 50 Ω load to feed the array).

4 Four-Element Linear Array with d = λ/2

4.1 Uniform Array (α = 0◦ )


1. Attach four dipoles to the support beam with spacings of λ/2.

2. Mount the array on the pedestal. You should have something similar to Figure 1.

3. Connect the dipoles to the 4-way Wilkinson power divider using UFL cables.

4. Connect the input of the hybrid to the Reflection port using an SMA cable.

5. Align the dipole such that the arms are in parallel with the arms of the Yagi when the tripod
pedestal is at 0◦ .

6. Make sure s21 is measured on the network analyzer and make sure a marker is placed on the
resonant frequency of the Yagi antenna.

7. Record the value of the magnitude report by the network analyzer.

8. Rotate the pedestal by 15◦ .

9. Repeat 7 and 8 until you have completed 360◦ of measurements. It is only necessary to
characterize the co-pol characteristics of the array.

Compare the pattern to theoretical expectations.


Figure 1: Array mounting.

4.2 Progressive Phase Shift with α = 90◦

Repeat the previous measurements using a progressively phased array by connecting successively
longer delay lines between the output of the four-port power divider and the dipole elements. Each
delay line provides approximately 90◦ of phase shift at 900 MHz. Calculate the expected beam
angle (relative to broadside) and compare it to your measurements.

How would you reverse the beam angle so that it is steered on the opposite side of the broadside
axis?

5 Additional Questions
1. Classify each pattern obtained as either broadside, endfire, or other.

2. What is the approximate change in measured signal power from the array beam between the
two-element array and the four-element array? Does it correspond to theoretical expecta-
tions?

3. Explain how the patterns would have changed if the dipoles could have been mounted ver-
tically (with the dipoles pointing along the same axis). Would it be possible to reconfigure
each setup to realize this axial configuration? Why or why not?
6 Network Analyzer Calibration

This section describes the procedure of how to calibrate the network analyzer. Square brackets []
denote a hard button on the front panel of the network analyzer and round brackets () denote a soft
button on the screen of the network analyzer.

1. Press [Preset] → (OK). Setting the instrument to a default state.

2. Press [Start], enter 800 MHz. Press [Stop], enter 1 GHz. Setting the frequency range of
interest for the measurement.

3. Press [Cal] → (2-Port Cal) → (Reflection).

4. Connect the appropriate Short/Open/Broadband Load calibration standards to Port 1 and 2


and press corresponding soft buttons on the screen..

5. Press (Return).

6. Press (Transmission). Connect the Short/Open/Broadband Load calibration standards to Port


1 and 2 and press corresponding soft buttons on the screen..

7. Connect a Through standard.

8. Press (Port 1-2 Thru) to measure the standard.

9. Press (Return)

10. Press (Done) to enable the calibration.

11. Check the calibration by making sure the calibration is selected to be ON. Connect the
Through calibration standard to make sure the reflection s11 is less than −40 dB and the
transmission s21 is near 0 dB.

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