Performance of a meandered line as an electrically small transmitting antenna

For antennas to radiate at maximum efficiency, their dimensions must be on the same order as the radiated wavelength. At frequencies below 30 MHz, antennas with efficient radiation are often too large for mobile and pol table applications. Smaller antennas can be made to radiate efficiently by use of matching networks. For installation convenience and ease of adjustment, these networks are usually placed between the transmitter and the antenna input; but it has been found that for best radiation efficiency, matching network elements should be placed at points on the antenna structure. Unfortunately, such matching networks must be tuned for each transmitting frequency and, when mounted on the antenna, they cannot easily be tuned. A meander element antenna was found to present some electrical and mechanical properties allowing convenient placement of tuning elements when configured as an electrically small transmitting antenna. Some simplified design guidelines mere derived from experimental data.