A High-Voltage Cable-Fed Impulse Radiating Antenna

We describe here a 1.52 m (5 ft.) diameter Impulse Radiating Antenna (IRA) for use in a high-voltage radar system that uses a single antenna and a directional coupler. This antenna, designated the IRA-6, was designed to operate at 30 kV. To accommodate the higher voltage, we introduced a number of new features, including a larger-diameter 100-ohm cable, cable stubs at the feed point, and gaps in the splitter balun. These features led to somewhat higher reflections in the TDR and somewhat reduced gain. However, the realized gain was satisfactory as high as 4 GHz, which covered the frequencies of interest. We tested the antenna at low, medium and high voltages, for which we provide results. The peak gain on boresight is 20 dBi at 3.1 GHz and the effective height is approximately 0.187 m.