From: "James Moritz" <j.r.moritz@herts.ac.uk>
Organization: University of Hertfordshire
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2001 20:04:09 +0000
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Subject: LF: <Tech>More antenna results
Message-ID: <E15pwhB-0006Dv-00@gemini.herts.ac.uk>
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Dear LF Group,

I have now added a further 130 or so points to my spreadsheet of 
field strength measurements. The original measurements were for 
an 8m high inverted L on 136kHz; for the new results I repeated the 
136kHz experiments with the antenna in 17.5m high inverted V 
configuration, and also on 71.62kHz using both configurations of 
antenna. The top wire length was 40m in both cases.

As before, plotting ERP vs. distance shows that at distances 
greater than 1km, and up to the maximum distance measured 
(about 6km) the ERP calculated from the field strength is fairly 
constant for each antenna and frequency. At distances below 1km, 
there is a rapidly rising trend in ERP as the distance decreases, 
indicating that near field effects are dominating the field strength. 

Again as before, there were no obvious directional effects when 
ERP was plotted against bearing from the transmitter.

The same antenna current of 2A was used in all experiments; the 
average ERPs obtained are given below. I also used EZNEC to 
calculate the radiation resistance, and so, using the measured 
antenna current, calculate the expected ERP. I have also included 
rough measurements of the loss resistance for each antenna 
(excluding the loading coil):


8m inv L, 136kHz
Rrad = 0.0198ohm
ERP (calculated) = -8.5dBW 
ERP(from FS measurements) = -11.2dBW
difference (measured - calculated) = -2.7dB
Rloss=35ohms


17.5m inv V, 136kHz
Rrad = 0.0464ohm
ERP (calculated) = --4.8dBW 
ERP(from FS measurements) = -5.8dBW
difference (measured - calculated) = -1.0dB
Rloss = 27ohms


8m inv L, 71.62kHz
Rrad = 0.0058ohm
ERP (calculated) = -13.8dBW 
ERP(from FS measurements) = -17.8dBW
difference (measured - calculated) = -4.0dB
Rloss=63ohms


17.5m inv V, 71.62kHz
Rrad = 0.0129ohm
ERP (calculated) = -10.3dBW 
ERP(from FS measurements) = -12.5dBW
difference (measured - calculated) = -2.2dB
Rloss = 47ohms


Some conclusions can be drawn about the "missing decibels" (ie. 
the difference between measured and calculated ERPs). The fact 
that the measured ERP is constant at distances greater than 1km 
indicates that the decibels must already be missing by this 
distance, ie. the losses occur within the near field of the antenna. 
There is less difference between calculated and measured ERP for 
the higher inverted V antenna than for the inverted L. This is 
consistent with the intuitive idea that the missing power is 
absorbed by objects obstructing the antenna - the higher antenna 
benefits because there are less obstructions for the signal as it 
propagates into the surrounding space. 

An interesting thing is that, with a vertical transmitting antenna 
tuned against ground (ie. an "electric" antenna) and a ferrite rod 
receiving antenna (ie, H field sensing), the apparent field strength 
rises sharply at short distances. The usual statement seems to be 
that in the near field of the electric antenna,  the H field is 
proportionally smaller and the E field larger than in the far field - ie 
E/H is greater than 120pi ohms.

It would now be interesting to try a similar series of measurements 
with a transmitter in an urban QTH, since the "missing decibels" 
losses seem to be much larger in these conditions.

If anyone would like to look at the data I have collected so far, I 
have put it all together on on one spreadsheet, which I can E-mail 
in Microsoft Excel, plain text, and various other formats.

Cheers, Jim Moritz
73 de M0BMU