10 April 2007
As a result of increased interest for communication systems in the US military frequency ban 4.4 to 5.0GHz (C-Band), European Antennas has developed two high gain flat panel COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) antennas of the 'one-foot' and 'two feet' USA style, that are just 1 inch (25mm) thick. The company has found that usage has also increased in other countries as national governments allocate subsections of this band. The 4.4 to 5.0GHz band with its wider bandwidth is providing greater flexibility and security for communication systems. A major advantage is that commercially available radio systems based on WLAN and WiMAX technologies can be converted to this military designated band enabling a system to be developed and deployed quickly.
These two new directional antennas have well defined, low sidelobe patterns for use within military and homeland security applications for point-to-point single-hop data links and as the "subscriber' in point-to-multipoint systems.
The antennas are robust, with aluminium housings and flat glass fibre radomes, extremely slim for a discreet appearance and are available in dark green, black or tan. Other customisations can be undertaken.
The 'one-foot' antenna, reference FPA20-47V/1323, has 20dBi gain, 14° azimuth by 14°elevation beam pattern and measures 225mm square by 22mm (10.4"x10.4"x1").
The 'two-foot' antenna, reference FPA26-47V/1322, has 26dBi gain with 6° azimuth by 6° elevation beam pattern, and measures 600mm square by 24mm (23.6"X23.6"X1"). Both antennas are available with optional mounting kits to suit most types of installation.
These developments complement the existing range of over 20 antennas within the the 4.4-5.0GHz band. This range includes sector and multi-sector antennas, low gain wide angle antennas and omni-directional anttennas with gains from 2dBi to 9dBi. Many have circular polarisation which is favoured for ground to air communications, helicopters and UAVs. Further developments in this band include dual polarised and multi-panel sector antennas where diversity is required for COFDM applications.
These two new antennas are part of the European Antennas growing range of COTS antennas used in defence applications but providing commercial prices and development timescales.All antennas are modelled, developed, tested and manufactured on site to ensure that specifications are optimised. The company's spherical near field test facility ensures that prototype and manufactured antennas meet radiation pattern requirements and quoteted specifications. Full support documentation is available.
