Initial design curves for skeletal wire conical antennas

One conical type of radiator, the biconical structure in the body-of-revolution form, known as the solid sheet biconical dipole, has previously been studied extensively by using formulation and measured data. The wire, skeletal, or phantom biconical, as it is variously known, is an elegant and practical method of vestigially emulating conical structures. Although many textbooks mention skeletal wire conical (SWC) antennas as an approximation to solid biconical antennas, their behaviour has not been studied in great detail. The only study on SWC antennas available in the literature is that of Smith, Butler and Umashankar [1979], who compared the input impedance of SWC antennas at 3 frequencies with the number of wires ranging from 1 to 10. Only 2 cone angles at 3 frequencies were examined by Smith et al. which does not allow for a complete assessment of the SWC antenna´s performance. SWC antennas´ behaviour depends on variables such as the cone angle, the number of wires employed, and the wire thickness. The behaviour of the SWC antennas are also affected by the geometry of the feed arrangement. The favourable comparison between measured impedance, and the impedance obtained from the simulation of selected SWC antennas forms the basis for a comprehensive characterisation of the SWC antennas. The analyses of 757 SWC antennas are condensed to form a set of initial design curves which are presented.<>