A coupled resonant directive antenna consisting of a dipole, a reflector, and disks

An experimental study of a coupled resonant directive antenna consisting of a dipole ( is wavelength), a reflector of about diameter, and disks of about diameter is presented. The spacing between the reflector and a disk and the spacing between disks constitute leaky resonant cavities which are mutually coupled. The antenna shows a relatively high gain per element and a good suppression of sidelobes. Its simple and axially symmetric structure makes the antenna suitable for elements of an array antenna. Characteristics are mostly studied by models at 5 GHz and summarized in the form of equicontour maps. The antenna at 1.6 GHz yields a gain of 12.8 dB above a dipole. An array of 16 elements at 400 MHz yields a gain of 24.3 dB above an isotropic source.