Design and Fabrication of Optimized Folded Dipole Antenna in MHz

Abstract

One of the key operating bands for wireless communication is the VHF (Very High Frequency) band. This band accommodates a variety of applications within its operational frequency range, such as Land Mobile, FM/TV Broadcast, amateur radio etc. Consequently, it is essential to explore Antenna designs that are suitable for this band. This paper concentrates on the dipole folded antenna design at 100 MHz frequency. Simulations, fabrication, and testing have been conducted. This paper presents a novel model, along with the implementation of a folded dipole antenna optimized for military vehicular applications in the VHF band (30–300 MHz). The proposed antenna achieved a measured resonant frequency of 98 MHz, a return loss of –28 dB, and a VSWR of 1.07, which closely corresponds with both simulated and theoretical results. Furthermore, the antenna demonstrates a wide operational bandwidth of 12 MHz while maintaining a compact structure suitable for vehicles (~2.9 m). This combination of enhanced impedance matching, stable bandwidth, and field-ready fabrication distinguishes it from traditional folded dipole designs used in the VHF range. We have compared the S11 plots of the simulated results and the fabricated results. The characteristics of a folded dipole antenna are comparable to those of a dipole Antenna, and HFSS software can be utilized to design and assess it. At the conclusion of the investigation, the simulated return loss result for the folded dipole antenna aligns well.