Broadband Antennas

Yagi-Uda Antennas

Set X

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 1

 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Structure
The Yagi-Uda antenna is one of the most
brilliant antenna designs.
• It consists of a fed element and at least two
parasitic (non-excited) elements.

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 2

 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Structure
• The shorter
elements in
the front are
directors.
• The longer
element in
the back is a reflector.
• The conventional design has only one
reflector, but may have up to 10~15 directors.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 3
 Yagi-Uda Antenna-Advantages
Advantages:
• It is simple to construct.
• It has a high gain, typically greater than 10 dB.
These antennas typically operate in the HF to
UHF bands (about 3 MHz to 3 GHz), frequently
employed as TV/FM antennas.
However:
• It has a typically small bandwidth (on the order
of a few percent of the center frequency).
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 4
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
• The basic geometry of a Yagi-Uda antenna is
shown in the following figure:

• The single 'feed' or 'driven' element (F) is

typically a dipole or a folded dipole antenna.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 5
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
• The rest of the elements are parasitic:
They reflect (Reflector R) or help to transmit
the energy in a particular direction (Directors-
D1, D2, D3, … DN).

• This feed antenna is often altered in size to

make it resonant in the presence of the
parasitic elements (typically, 0.45-0.48
wavelengths long for a dipole antenna).

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 6

 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
• The reflector length is given as R and the
separation between the feed and the reflector
is SR.
• The reflector element is typically slightly
longer than the feed element (~5%).
• Adding more reflectors improves performance
but very slightly.
• This element is important in determining the
front-to-back ratio of the antenna.
So, what is the front-to-back ratio 
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 7
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
• The front-to-back ratio: is the ratio of the
maximum directivity in the forward direction
to that in the back
direction:

• Having the reflector slightly longer than its

resonant length, makes the impedance of the
reflector capacitive.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 8
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
Hence, the current on the reflector leads the
voltage induced on the reflector  Out of
phase with the backward wave and in phase
with the forward wave.

• The director elements (those to the right of

the feed) will be shorter (~4%) than its
resonant length, making them inductive, so
that the current lags the voltage.

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 9

 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
• This will cause a phase distribution to
occur across the elements, so to be in
phase with the driven element forward
wave.
• This leads to the array being a travelling
wave antenna  end-fire array where
the radiation is along the +y axis as
shown above.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 10
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
• Each director is of length Di , and
separated from the adjacent director by
a length SDi , so the chosen lengths
strengthen the wave propagation in the
direction of the directors.

• Separations are mostly optimized by

simulations or measurements to achieve
maximum gain.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 11
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
• Example measurement of two-element Yagi
antenna (1 reflector, 1 feed dipole element, 0
directors). The gain as a function of the
separation is
shown right 

• G increases by
about 2.5 dB if
SR is:
0.15 to 0.3
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 12
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Geometry
• Similarly, you can plot the gain as a function of
director spacings or:
• As a function of the number of directors.
Typical Data:
• The first director will add approximately 3 dB of
overall gain (if designed well).
• The second will add about 2 dB.
• The third about 1.5 dB. So larger number than
10 ~ 15 is not always a good idea.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 13
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
• The design of a Yagi-Uda antenna is actually
simple. Because Yagi antennas have been
extensively analyzed and experimentally
tested. The design steps basically follow this
outline:
1. Look up a table of design parameters for Yagi
antennas.
2. Build it (or model it numerically), and
optimize it until the performance is
acceptable.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 14
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
• Example: Consider the table published for
"Yagi Antenna Design“ (available in Balanis):

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 15

 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
• Note that the "boom" is the long element that
the directors, reflectors and feed elements
are physically attached to, and dictates the
length of the antenna.
• The spacing between the directors is uniform
and given in the second row from bottom of
the table.
• The diameter of the elements is given by:
d = 0.0085
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 16
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
• The above table helps to estimate the required
length of the antenna (the boom length), and
a set of lengths and spacings that achieves the
specified gain Just a starting design.
• There are numerous other tables that further
give results, such as how the diameter of the
boom affects the results, and the optimal
diameters of the elements.
• This is a good starting point which can be
further improved by simulations.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 17
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
• As an example results: The radiation patterns
for a 6- element Yagi antenna (with axis along
the +x axis) is simulated by FEKO software (see
link below).
• (1 reflector, 1 driven dipole, 4 directors).
The resulting antenna has a 12.1 dBi gain, and
the plots are given next slide 
• You can download a light version of FEKO
software from the link:
http://www.feko.info/feko-product-info/feko-lite/feko-lite/
Or http://www.feko.info/Download_Centre
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 18
 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
• Yagi-Uda Antenna Radiation Pattern: E-plane

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 19

 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
• Yagi-Uda Antenna Radiation Pattern: H-plane

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 20

 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
• Yagi-Uda Antenna 3-D Radiation Pattern

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 Yagi-Uda Antenna- Design
Comments on Results:
• The above plots are just an example to give an
idea of how the radiation pattern of a Yagi-
antenna looks like.
• The gain can be increased (and the pattern
made more directional) by adding more
directors or optimizing spacing (or rarely, adding
another reflector).
• The front-to-back ratio is approximately 19 dB
for this antenna. It can also be optimized further.
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 22
 The Example in Balanis
Input Data for the program YAGI_UDA.m 
• NUMBER OF MODES PER ELEMENT (A POSITIVE INTEGER) = 8
• NUMBER OF ELEMENTS N= 15
• DO ALL DIRECTORS HAVE THE SAME LENGTH?
• ANSWER: (Y OR N) ...... y
• THE UNIFORM LENGTH (in WAVELENGTHS) OF THE DIRECTOR
= 0.406
• LENGTH (in WAVELENGTHS) OF THE REFLECTOR = 0.5
• LENGTH (in WAVELENGTHS) OF THE DRIVEN ELEMENT = 0.47
• SEPARATION (in WAVELENGTHS) BETWEEN DRIVEN ELEMENT &
1st DIRECTOR = 0.34

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 23

 The Example in Balanis
• IS THE SEPARATION BETWEEN DIRECTORS UNIFORM?
• ANSWER: (Y OR N) ...... Y

• THE UNIFORM SEPARATION (in WAVELENGTHS)

BETWEEN DIRECTORS = 0.34

• SEPARATION (in WAVELENGTHS) BETWEEN

REFLECTOR & DRIVEN ELEMENT = 0.25

• RADIUS (in WAVELENGTHS) FOR ALL ELEMENTS USED

= 0.003
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 24
 Computed Results
Results:
*****************************************
PROGRAM OUTPUT FOR THE YAGI UDA ARRAY
*****************************************
• 3-dB BEAMWIDTH IN THE E-PLANE PATTERN
= 26.98 DEGREES
• 3-dB BEAMWIDTH IN THE H-PLANE PATTERN
= 27.96 DEGREES
• FRONT-TO-BACK RATIO IN THE E-PLANE
= 36.6416 dB
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 25
 Computed Results
• FRONT-TO-BACK RATIO IN THE H-PLANE
= 36.7225 dB

• DIRECTIVITY = 14.637 dB

• The plots follow in next pages 

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 26

 The Field Pattern E & H plane

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 Current Amplitudes on Elements

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 28

 Radiation Patterns in E & H planes

Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 29

 End
of Set X

Thank You for Your

Attention
Dr. Zuhair M. Hejaz Set X-Antennas and Wave propagation 30