Investigations on beam focusing properties of circular monopole array antenna on a finite ground plane

Multi symmetrical excitation schemes are proposed for a circular monopole array antenna consisting of six wire monopole elements on a finite ground plane. The simulated and measured results of the beam focusing properties of the antenna are presented and discussed. A prototype of the antenna has been fabricated and tested for its impedance and beam focusing properties using 2-0-6 excitation schemes. The measured radiation pattern results are found to be in agreement with the simulated data. Such circular arrays using the different excitation schemes, may find applications in satellite communication applications, and smart adaptive beam antennas, where switched sector beams are desired.