UHF antenna with air dielectric feed means

Claim 2

In a ridged-waveguide antenna for use with a transmitter to transmit radiowaves at a selected frequency, said antenna having a body, a surface on the body, an input terminal for connection to a coaxial cable and a capacitive tab for exciting the antenna, a tuneable feedline comprising: an air-dielectric line between the input terminal and the capacitive tab to feed RF signals therebetween, said line being formed of an electrically-conductive member having an L-shaped cross-sectional configuration to provide mechanical rigidity for said line, two fixed shunt inductors connected between said line and the antenna body, said inductors being so selected to make the input reactance of said line substantially zero, and the distance between said two inductors being related to the frequency of the transmitted wave, and a variable capacitor in parallel with each of said inductors to enable the tuning of the antenna to the coaxial cable and the transmitter.

Claim 3

In the antenna of claim 1, said two fixed shunt inductors being separated by approximately one-eighth wavelength of the transmitted wave.

Claim 4

In the antenna of claim 1, said variable capacitors being air-trimmer capacitors variable over a range of 1.5 to 14 picofarads.

Claim 5

In the antenna of claim 1, said electrically conductive member comprising a relatively flat, planar, elongated member bent substantially parallel to its longitudinal axis to form a pair of depending legs at substantial right angles to one another.

Claim 6

In the antenna of claim 4, one of said depending legs being positioned substantially parallel the surface on the antenna body and proximate thereto but spaced therefrom, and the other of said depending legs extending from said first leg substantially normally to and outwardly away from the surface on the antenna body.

Claim 7

In the antenna of claim 1, the antenna being operable in the frequency range of 406-512 MegaHertz.

Claim 8

In the antenna of claim 1, said inductors also serving as mechanical supports for said member to space the same from the surface on the antenna body.

Claim 9

In a ridged-waveguided antenna for use with a transmitter, said antenna having a body, an input terminal for connection to a coaxial cable, a resonant cavity, and a capacitive tab for exciting the cavity, a tuneable feed line comprising: an air-dielectric stripline connecting the input terminal to the capacitive tab to feed RF signals therebetween, said line comprising a relatively flat, planar, elongated electrically-conductive member longitudinally bent to a cross-sectionally L-shaped configuration having two depending legs at right angles to each other, said member being positioned on the antenna body to position one of said legs parallel to the body and spaced therefrom and the other of said legs projecting from its intersection with the first leg substantially normally outward relative to the antenna body, whereby the L-shaped configuration of said member provides mechanical rigidity for said line, two fixed shunt inductors connected between said member and the antenna body and separated from one another by a distance related to the frequency of the transmitted wave, said inductors being so selected to make the input reactance of said line substantially zero, and a variable capacitor in parallel with each of said inductors to enable the antenna to be tuned to match the impedance of the same to the impedance of the transmitter and the coaxial cable.

Claim 10

In a ridged-waveguided antenna for use with a transmitter, said antenna having a body, an input terminal for connection to a coaxial cable, a resonant cavity, and a capacitive tab for exciting the cavity, a tuneable feed line comprising: an air-dielectric stripline connecting the input terminal to the capacitive tab to feed RF signals therebetween, said line comprising a relatively flat, planar, elongated electrically-conductive member longitudinally bent to a cross-sectionally L-shaped configuration having two depending legs at right angles to each other, said member being positioned on the antenna body to position one of said legs parallel to the body and spaced therefrom and the other of said legs projecting from its intersection with the first leg substantially normally outward relative to the antenna body, whereby the L-shaped configuration of said member provides mechanical rigidity for said line, two fixed shunt inductors connected between said member and the antenna body and separated from one another by a distance related to the frequency of the transmitted wave, said inductors being so selected to make the input reactance of said line substantially zero, and a variable capacitor in parallel with each of said inductors to enable the antenna to be tuned to match the impedance of the same to the impedance of the transmitter and the coaxial cable.