Design of microstrip TV antenna for in-campus digital broadcast system at 479 MHz

The Philippine television industry is currently in the phase of transition from analog into digital broadcast. Along with the upcoming Mapua Institute of Technology's in campus digital television broadcast, the study aims to design and characterize a working microstrip patch antenna optimized to receive the digital broadcast at 479 MHz. Using a simulation tool, High Frequency Structural Simulator (HFSS), four antennas with different specifications were designed and three antennas were made for every design. The Rectangular and circular patch design was used using two different materials, fiber glass (FR-4) and PTFE (Duroid 5880). Using a consumer grade ISDB-T Digital TV Box, the testing of signal level was done in four key locations inside the vicinity of the campus and two test points for every location. Comparing the average resulting received signal level for each design, it was found out that the Circular FR-4 is the only antenna that achieved a perfect picture on all 8 test point locations. Moreover, the Circular FR-4 is the smallest antenna with a lateral dimension of 7inx7in, -18.704dB return loss, VSWR of 1.2602, and a bandwidth of 222 MHz. Surprisingly, at 479 MHz, it was found out that each of the 4 antenna design performs better than the stock antenna that is commercially available.