Browse Categories
Your quote request

View Quote Request

Biconical Antenna FAQ's

As part of our commitment to provide you with information that adds value to your work, A.H. Systems is continuously producing articles and application notes on specific uses of our products. Our complete library of technical articles and application notes is available below for public use as an open reference for the RF engineering community. If you need information on a topic you don’t see here or you require additional technical support, we can help. Contact support to talk with one of our engineers for answers.

Common Questions

Biconical antennas are broadband dipole antennas with conical shaped elements. These antennas have similar characteristics to the dipole antennas. They typically have an omni-directional pattern in the vertical polarity and usually a very wide half power beamwidth in the horizontal polarity.

The biconical antenna has a broad frequency response and requires no element tuning whereas the dipole antenna has a very limited frequency response to the tuned element length.

Antennas act differently in the near field vs. far field. Many calibration standards require different testing separation distances. Once the antenna is in the far-field, the antenna response does not change with increasing distances.

Mount the antenna such that the elements are parallel to the ground for horizontal polarity, or perpendicular to the ground for vertical polarity.

The separation distance measurement point for the biconical antennas is at the center of the elements.

Biconical antennas are notorious for having horrible VSWR properties especially at the lower frequency range. It’s the nature of physics, the lower in frequency, the large the antenna needs to be. To minimize impedance mismatch errors, it is recommended that high-quality in-line attenuators be used to reduce reflections. Here is a cool little VSWR calculator (https://www.ahsystems.com/EMC-formulas-equations/VSWR.php) with an option to add an attenuator value to see the overall improved VSWR.

In the realm of RF (Radio Frequency) and microwave engineering, maintaining signal integrity is crucial for optimal performance. This article (https://www.ahsystems.com/articles/fixed-attenuators-and-their-role-in-minimizing-impedance-mismatches.php) will explain what impedance mismatches are, what fixed attenuators are, how they function, and their importance in minimizing impedance mismatches

The dimensions are slightly less than the 137cm yip to tip but are within the tolerance per the original drawings.
newsletter