A quasi-periodic design procedure for a traveling-wave array of dipoles

A simple iterative design procedure is given for a traveling-wave array of dipole elements fed in a shunt configuration by a meandering transmission line. The design procedure is based on a quasi-periodic analysis of the loaded line, which assumes a Bloch wave propagation on the structure. A design procedure is formulated for the cases of constant attenuation and tapered attenuation on the line. A ten-element array of vertical monopoles fed by a meandering stripline is used to illustrate the design technique. Results show that the design procedure based on power into the dipoles gives good agreement with one based on actual dipole currents if a certain assumption is used. It is important, however, to account for mutual coupling in the design procedure in order to obtain accurate patterns, especially for low sidelobe designs.<
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