MINIATURIZATION OF COMPACT QUADRIFILAR HELIX ANTENNAS FOR TELEMETRY, TRACKING AND COMMAND APPLICATIONS

This paper addresses the miniaturization of Quadrifilar Helix Antennas (QHAs) for space applications (VHF Telemetry, Tracking and Command). Several shape miniaturization techniques were presented, and the impact of height reduction is quantified in terms of radiation pattern, gain and phase center. Simulated and experimental results demonstrate that Compact Quadrifilar Helix Antennas (CQHAs) with a height reduced up to 70% reported to the reference QHA can be designed. By using an appropriate optimization method, the impact of the miniaturization on CQHA performances in terms of radiation pattern and polarization purity can be minimized. Moreover, the impact on the gain is quantified, and design rules are reported. Finally a closed-form expression for estimating the gain of CQHAs from the height reduction factor is found.