An experimental study of the circular-polarized elliptical printed-circuit antenna

The radiated field and impedance behavior of elliptical printed-circuit antennas are investigated. Five different ellipses were etched on 1/8-in. and 1/16-in. thick Teflon-fiberglass microwave printed-circuit boards with the impedance of each antenna measured as a function of frequency from 1 to 2 GHz using an automatic network analyzer and far field radiation patterns taken with a spinning linear-polarized horn. The results show that with the proper choice of eccentricity and frequency the elliptical printed-circuit antenna can provide a circularly polarized radiation field using a simple single-feed network alone.