Irregular quad-mode antenna array: Field-of-View comparison with the swedish LOFAR station

The response of a 96 element quad-mode antenna (QMA) array configured in the layout of a Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) Low Band Antenna (LBA) station is assessed. Mutual coupling between the four fundamental excitation modes of each QMA is investigated and the maximum gain achieved by the QMA array is compared with the maximum gain of the LBA array. It is shown that the QMA array results in a 5 dB increase in gain toward the horizon with a variation in gain less than 5 dB over a hemispherical Field-of-View (FoV) coverage.