A curved spiral antenna above a conducting cylinder

A curved spiral antenna above a finite hollow conducting cylinder is analyzed using the method of moments. The effects of cylinder length 2H and cylinder radius r_cy on the radiation characteristics of the spiral are evaluated. As 2H increases, the cross-polarization component of the radiation field in the broadside direction decreases to a constant value (approximately -18 dB). When 2H is greater than one wavelength (λ₀), the input impedance of the spiral above a cylinder of radius r_cy=0.25 λ₀ is almost constant (250-j20 Ω) with a gain of approximately 7 dB. The spiral above a cylinder of (2H, r_cy)=(2.7 λ₀, 0.25 λ₀) shows a 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of approximately 23%, which is wider than a flat spiral antenna above a flat ground plane of infinite extent