Bocacao, Ezequiel P.

Erni, Florence Joy L.

Salibio, Vincent Emmanuel P.

Combined Bow-Tie and Log Periodic Dipole Array Antenna

Theory
One form of antenna that is able to provide gain and directivity along with a wide bandwidth is
known as log periodic dipole array (LPDA), which consists of a number of dipole elements. These
progressively reduce in size from the back to the front – the direction of maximum radiation is from the
smaller front. Each dipole element of the LPDA is fed, but the phase is reversed between adjacent dipole
elements – this ensures that the signal phasing is correct between the different elements. Figure 1 shows the
LPDA concept.

Figure 1 Log Periodic Dipole Array Concept

The element at the back of the array where the elements are the largest is a half wavelength at the
lowest frequency of operation - the longest element acts as a half wave dipole at the lowest frequency. The
element spacing also decrease towards the front of the array where the smallest elements are located. The
upper frequency is a function of the length of the shortest element.
However, log periodic antennas have low gain. To have a good and decent VSWR, the antenna’s
design ought to be vast or by combining another sort of antenna. One type of antenna that can be used is
the bow-tie antenna. The main advantages of bow-tie antennas are simple design and broad-band
impedance. It is a wire approximation to the solid biconical antenna. They are usually utilized for UHF TV
reception antennas where a few components might be showed and placed at the front of a flat screen
reflector. The bowtie antenna by itself has a wide pattern with low gain similar to that of a dipole. For the
television antenna the gain is expanded by displaying a few components together and including the
reflecting screen. Figure 2 shows a conceptual bow-tie antenna.

Figure 2 Bow-Tie Antenna Concept

Bocacao, Ezequiel P.
Erni, Florence Joy L.
Salibio, Vincent Emmanuel P.

Materials
 Boom Element
 Element Tube
 Boom Cap
 Balun
 Cable
 Connector
 Screws
 Tube Cap
 Lightning Arrester

Procedure
1. Indicate the specifications of the elements. The number of elements, the length of the longest and shortest
elements, and the total height of the antenna must be known and measured.
2. Determine the mechanical specifications such as the minimum and maximum frequency, boom length,
gain, elements, etc.
3. Compute for the log-periodic dipole array specifications. The bow-tie antenna may be computed upon
scaling with the computed LPDA measurements.
4. Assemble the components and test upon finishing the assembly.

Figure 3 shows the proposed antenna design.

Figure 3 Combined Bow-Tie and Log Periodic Dipole Array Antenna