What Is a Microwave Antenna?

Transmitting or receiving antennas that work in the wave bands of meters, centimeters, and millimeters are collectively called microwave antennas. Microwaves are mainly propagated by space waves. To increase the communication distance, antennas are set up relatively high. Among microwave antennas, parabolic antennas, horn parabolic antennas, horn antennas, lens antennas, slot antennas, dielectric antennas, and periscope antennas are widely used.

Transmitting or receiving antennas that work in the wave bands of meters, centimeters, and millimeters are collectively called microwave antennas. Microwaves are mainly propagated by space waves. To increase the communication distance, antennas are set up relatively high. Among microwave antennas, parabolic antennas, horn parabolic antennas, horn antennas, lens antennas, slot antennas, dielectric antennas, and periscope antennas are widely used. Requirements for working in the microwave band antenna: (1) high mechanical strength and application reliability; (2) the size and weight of the antenna should be small; (3) the antenna and the feeder should be matched and easy to tune; (4) the antenna Manufacturing and assembly should be simple and cost-effective. ^[1]

Microwave antennas are divided into two types: microwave antennas and antennas.

Divided by electrical characteristics: standard antenna and high-performance antenna two microwave antennas.

The difference between a standard antenna and a high-performance antenna is that the front-to-back ratio of a high-performance antenna is larger than that of a standard antenna, which is generally greater than 10dB. ^[2]

Due to the influence of terrain and environmental ground, whether the electromagnetic waves received by the antenna are effective direct waves, reflected diffraction waves or their superposition, the result determines the amplitude and phase of the field strength at the receiving point and directly affects the application effect of the antenna . Therefore, there are certain requirements for the installation of the antenna, and the following aspects should be paid attention to when selecting the antenna installation position.

(1) The transmitting or receiving direction of the antenna should avoid obstacles as much as possible: for example, tall buildings such as buildings, iron towers, bridges, etc., to avoid multipath interference that is likely to affect communications due to electromagnetic wave reflection and refraction.

(2) The antenna installation site should be as far away as possible from interference sources, such as high-voltage lines, aircraft routes, densely populated areas, highways, etc., to reduce or avoid possible interference to microwave communications; and to minimize the interference of microwave communication systems to the outside world.

(3) The antenna should be erected as high as possible nearby: according to the characteristics of microwave transmission, this can increase the communication distance and obtain relatively good communication quality.

(4) If there are several antennas working on the same tower, special attention should be paid to the left and right and up and down distances between them and the operating frequency to prevent mutual coupling from affecting system performance. ^[3]