Gain improvement and backlobe reduction in vee dipoles with director elements

A new vee dipole antenna is proposed as a modification to the conventional vee dipole for improving the gain and reducing the back radiation level without increasing its size. The new vee dipole contains two additional smaller pieces of wire on the arms of the conventional vee dipole that act primarily as directors. The director elements are isolated from the main arms of the vee dipole. The parameters defining the position and the length of the director elements are optimized such that maximum directivity is achieved and lower minor lobes are maintained. The radiation properties of the vee dipole with director elements are investigated both numerically and experimentally. In an example design, a gain improvement of 1.4 dB and a reduction of more than 12 dB in back radiation are predicted. The computed radiation pattern is in good agreement with the measured pattern.