horn antenna may be regarded as flared out waveguide.

function of the horn is to produce a

uniform phase front with a larger aperture than that of waveguide and hence greater directivity.
rectangular horns are fed by rectangular waveguides while circular ones are fed by circular
waveguides. to minimise reflections of em wave in the transition region between the waveguide
and the horn, the horn can be given an exponential taper. there are rectangular horns with flare in
only one dimension. assuming that a te10 wave(with e in y direction) is flared by a horn as the one
in fig b. the wave is flared in a direction perpendicular to e ie along the direction of h.so it is called h
plane sectoral horn. the one in fig c flares in direction of e.so it is e plane sectoral horn.
a pyramidal horn flares in both the h and e planes. the arrows in the diagrams give an
approximation of the strength of electric field and also its direction. g and h show biconical horns .
the one in g is excited by a vertical radiator and the one in h by a small loop antenna. these
biconical horns are non directional in nature. the radiation pattern of a horn antenna can be known
if the aperture dimension and the aperture field distribution are known. directivity is max for a
uniform distribution of fields across the aperture. for variations in fields the directivity decreases.
principle of equality of path length(Fermat principle)
the field over the plane surface can be made everywhere in phase by shaping the antenna in such
a manner that all parts of the plane are at equal electrical length from the source
see derivation from book::

instead of requiring constant phase across the horn mouth the phase angle can deviate by less
than delta. which is equal to the path length difference between the ray travelling across the side
and along the axis of the horn.
in e plane delta<=0.25 lambda.
in h plane delta<= 0.4 lambda.
to obtain uniform distribution of fields across the aperture a long horn with small aperture is
needed.
however for practical purposes small horn is needed . an actual horn is a compromise between the
two extremes.
for constant length l directivity increases for larger aperture and flare angle.however for very large
a and theta so that delta is 180 degrees the field at edge is opposite to the field on axis.this
reduces directivity.
max directivity occurs at the largest flare angle for which delta does not exceed a certain value
deltanot.
limitations
path length or delta effect is an inherent limitation.
for most uniform illumination of the aperture higher modes of transmission must be suppressed.
so the width of the waveguide at the throat of horn must be between 0.5-1 lambda.
rhombic antennas
a rhombic antenna may be regarded as a double v type.a terminating resistance of 600-800 ohm is
connected at the terminals so that there is single outgoing travelling wave on the wires. the length
of each leg is L and half of the included angle is phi. in designing a rhombic antenna, phi,L, and
height above the ground may be chosen so that main lobe maxima coincides with the desired
elevation angle alpha or maxima of electric field intensity is obtained at desired elevation angle
alpha.
if height above the ground is less than is needed alignment can be obtained by increasing the leg
length.
if if height is ok but leg length is less,alignment can be obtained by adjusting phi.
any of these modifications result in a compromise design having reduced gain.
see book for the ensuing derivation.
advantages:
simple design

high forward gain

wide bandwidth
log periodic antenna
it is a freq. independent antenna with a self complementary toothed structure. since b1+b2=90 the
self complementary condition is fulfilled . however later it was shown that the self complementary
condition was not required. thus the first log periodic dipole array was developed. it was based on
the concept that a gradually expanding log periodic array radiates most effectively when dipoles
are near resonance so the radiating region shifts along the array for increasing frequencies of
operation. the lengths of dipoles increase along the antenna and so does the spacing between
successive dipoles so that l/s remains constant.
at the frequency in the middle of the operating range of the antenna ,radiation occurs from the
central region of antenna. the dipoles are lambda/2 long. dipoles ahead of the radiating ones
represent large inductive reactance to the line and hence carry lesser currents.
those behind represent large capacitive reactance and hence carry lesser currents. for frequency f
and corresponding wavelength lambda radiation occurs from dipoles of length lambda/2.
mathematical derivation::
lens antenna