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How to start learning antenna --- need help

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eng.sh

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I can't say i'm absolutely beginner i have read some and have a moderate experience in hfss but i feel lost.
I am supposed to study smart antenna systems but I don't know how to start
any help please?
 

Buy books from experienced designers, this will get you a good trade off between theory and practice
Start getting your amateur ham radio licence ? :)

Good luck!
 

Thanks for advice.
I will start reading "Antenna from theory to practice"
is this enough?
 

First of all You have to be familiar with electromagnetism. Without it studying antenna theory will be very difficult. Concerning antenna books I don't know "Antenna from theory to practice" but I think Kraus ("Antennas for All Apllications) and Balanis ("Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design") books give very solid knowledge of the subject. First of them seams to me little easier.
 

Thanks, my problem with electromagnetism is limited time.
I will try to get Antennas for All Applications.
 

eng.sh said:
Thanks, my problem with electromagnetism is limited time.
I will try to get Antennas for All Applications.
Click to expand...
Without understanding Electromagnetism, you can not understand antenna theory..
Get a solid background about Electromagnetism first and then read those books about antennas.
 

I fully agree with BigBoss. You should understand electromagnetism first (inclusive waves).

As antenna structures can be frequently treated as transmission line sections with radiation loss, you should be fluent with transmission lines and current- voltage distribution along lines with high SWR.

A suppose you also want to study beam forming arrays/networks. Knowledge of basics of digital signal processing is useful, as similar theory is required for (beam steering) arrays.
 

start with calculation of wire antennas (hertzian dipole, halfwave dipole, travelingwave dipole ) theoretical and then aperture antennas and microstrip
then get a simulation software and learn 3-D drawing and calculation with software.
 
Thank you all.
I will try to start studying electromagnetism as you advised.
Thanks again.
 

your must start from basic, the ABCs of antennas. i must say build your concepts with Hypothetical point sources, their electromagnetic field gain remains the same in all direction and their effect on each other especially when they are phase shifted and seperation between them is varied, for this i will suggest you the John D.Kraus, Ronald J.Marhefka. Antennas for all Applications. third edition.
 

I am going to suggest a different route, which is the one I have taken. Since you don't have a lot of time don't spend days learning about maxwell's equations and detailed theories. you only need a basic understanding of microstrip lines and how and why an antenna resonates. Think about what smart means. think about MEMS and other variable/switchable structures that can give you the flexibility. Only then you will have a smart antenna. I am working on this field right now and one of the things you need the most is creativity. So start reading IEEE papers on the topic for inspiration and to see which parameters people are giving more importance to. Get to work right away and consult books and people when you are stuck, its the fast way. Let me know if you need more specific guidance. I will be happy to help.
 
mkonca,

You are absolutely right. Do you also feel the need to just have a good setup and to evaluate experimentally and creatively ?
I've tried alot of software, reading, doing calculations, but it always seems very hard to get a good simulation and experimental match. I feel lost in the 100000 of papers, it seems so hard to get a grip on all knowledge. I've also encountered numereous of papers with not valid theory due to unsifficient understanding of some phenomena.
Maybe we should only get a match on 1 point to verify a measurement setup and do experimental optimazisation afterwards which are based upon general understanding and creativity. What do You think ?
 

To have a good setup you need to have an anechoic chamber and even then it is not wise to just tune the hell out of it without some insight from the simulations and theory. I suggest that you use all the tools available to you. But I agree that measurements are very important in our field and simulations usually don't match real results. Are you a student? Graduate or Undergraduate? because if you are a graduate student and you cannot make sense out of papers, this means that you should spend more time learning the basics. On the other hand, if this is a basic and one time project just go for the tune and make it work approach.
 
I'm a thesis student and I do understand the papers but I'm thrown In a very difficult field of designing an MRI coil. I find it very frustrating that alot of people simply dont understand the difficulties of matching a simulation and experiment for a copper wire

Have a look at my thead:
https://www.edaboard.com/threads/201072/

I'm almost in the process of mentally banning alot off EM tools avaible in my field
 

Mkonca: I agree on whether or not you need to know all about Maxwell Equations, but you need at least to know the results to avoid that antenna design becomes trail and error with slow or no convergence.

With results I mean (for example):

-wave properties (E- H, power flux density, polarization, etc)
-Far field radiation from current segments
-reflection of waves, (multiple) images
-limitation on reflection (fresnel basics)
-superposition of fields (not powers)
-transmission line theory inclusive lumped circuits equivalents

-element, group and array pattern with relations.
-effect of distribution taper
-terms and definitions used within the antenna community

If he actually wants to measure some antennas:
-free space propagation
-gain, effective aperture, size/lambda versus gain and HPBW relations
-field zones (reactive, transition, far)

Maybe eng.sh can inform us what he means with "smart antennas".
 
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    mkonca

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Thanks WimRFP,

I think we agree that you need some theory but not all the depth. As I said in my second post, you must make use of theory as well. However, even I don't know a few of the things you have listed as a person with 3 years of antenna design experience. This guy is an undergraduate and he needs to look into the areas that he needs to learn the most due to time limitations. There are infinitely many things you can learn.
 

mkonca said:
I am going to suggest a different route, which is the one I have taken. Since you don't have a lot of time don't spend days learning about maxwell's equations and detailed theories. you only need a basic understanding of microstrip lines and how and why an antenna resonates. Think about what smart means. think about MEMS and other variable/switchable structures that can give you the flexibility. Only then you will have a smart antenna. I am working on this field right now and one of the things you need the most is creativity. So start reading IEEE papers on the topic for inspiration and to see which parameters people are giving more importance to. Get to work right away and consult books and people when you are stuck, its the fast way. Let me know if you need more specific guidance. I will be happy to help.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much i am really suffering a time problem.

About smart antenna systems i mean switched beam antennas and maybe "if possible" adaptive antennas.
but my theoretical background is not that strong so i asked for help to get the right way.

---------- Post added at 03:46 ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 ----------
mkonca said:
Thanks WimRFP,

I think we agree that you need some theory but not all the depth. As I said in my second post, you must make use of theory as well. However, even I don't know a few of the things you have listed as a person with 3 years of antenna design experience. This guy is an undergraduate and he needs to look into the areas that he needs to learn the most due to time limitations. There are infinitely many things you can learn.
Click to expand...

That is exactly my case .
can you advice a good reference , i am reading" antenna from theory to practice" and visiting antenna-theory.com
is this enough right now.
 

hi all
antenna from theory to practice is one of the most helpful and easy to study book that i've ever seen
 

I would get a copy Balanis book and sit and then get the Ansoft Antenna Design Kit and HFSS. With Antenna Design Kit you can create every antenna you read about and change its characteristics and see what you read about. I learned that way and it was fun and rewarding.

Joline.
 
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    Darkcrusher

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Thank you all.
Your replies have been very helpful.
 

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