MAPPERR Antennas

Antennas are an important part of any radar system, and especially a multi-frequency system like MAPPERR. In a full multi-frequency active-passive configuration, we envision MAPPERR having active radar channels centered at 2, 22, 330, and 1000 MHz, along with passive radiometer channels at 300 and 1000 MHz. We use these log-periodic dipole array antennas to cover the 300 MHz and above bands. To cover the 2 and 22 MHz channels, we utilize homemade resistively loaded dipoles, each tuned to our desired center frequency.

Resistively Loaded Dipole Construction

Resistively loaded dipoles are built based on the Wu-King resistive loading method (Wu and King, 1965). We use #14 Flex-Weave^TM^ wire from Davis RF to construct our dipoles. Resistors should be rated for the appropriate peak and average power.