AntennaFilter: What's this antenna for?
August 22, 2015 5:23 AM Subscribe
I came across this interesting looking (what I assume to be an) antenna in an otherwise empty lot. I'm curious to know what it might be used for and, as a bonus, why it needs to look like this as opposed to what I think of as more "typical" antenna shapes.
For reference the towers shown in the photo are about 20-30 feet high. Also, this lot is a few miles from a major airport, so I surmise it might be related to aviation.
For reference the towers shown in the photo are about 20-30 feet high. Also, this lot is a few miles from a major airport, so I surmise it might be related to aviation.
where's the curtain? the vertical wires are either tower supports or the feed.
it looks more like either a series of magnetic loops (which is weird) or some kind of stretched, suspended yagi with circular elements (which is weird).
posted by andrewcooke at 6:52 AM on August 22, 2015
it looks more like either a series of magnetic loops (which is weird) or some kind of stretched, suspended yagi with circular elements (which is weird).
posted by andrewcooke at 6:52 AM on August 22, 2015
I'm not a radio head, but when I saw the picture, the pattern matching engine behind my eyes coughed up the word "dipole".
posted by Bruce H. at 9:54 AM on August 22, 2015
posted by Bruce H. at 9:54 AM on August 22, 2015
Cage antenna is a dipole.
Rather than using a single wire they creates a bundle. HF flows along the outside. The spacing of the individual wires make it act like one giant solid conductor.
The advantage of this large diameter is the increased bandwidth and efficiency. This is particularly helpful if fast switching between frequencies have to be made. Like in frequency hopping or broad spectrum communications. Often used for military and other "government" applications...
When the internet goes "Dark" and the satellites we still have HF (short wave) to communicate over long distances....
posted by Mac-Expert at 10:29 AM on August 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Rather than using a single wire they creates a bundle. HF flows along the outside. The spacing of the individual wires make it act like one giant solid conductor.
The advantage of this large diameter is the increased bandwidth and efficiency. This is particularly helpful if fast switching between frequencies have to be made. Like in frequency hopping or broad spectrum communications. Often used for military and other "government" applications...
When the internet goes "Dark" and the satellites we still have HF (short wave) to communicate over long distances....
posted by Mac-Expert at 10:29 AM on August 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Much more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtain_array
posted by MrJM at 6:21 AM on August 22, 2015