EXPERIMENT 1

WAVE PROPAGATION AND ANTENNAS

Department of Electrical Engineering

Prepared by
Assoc Prof Dr. Zeeshan Zahid (Lab OIC)

Lab Engineer: Amara Umar

Military College of Signals

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY

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 Microwave Communications Laboratory
Department of Electrical Engineering
Military College of Signals

LAB – 1 Introduction to Antenna Test and Measurement System

1. Objectives

• Introduction to antenna training and measurement system

• Introduction to Vector Network Analyzer and its software

2. Introduction

This is an introductory lab where the students will be introduced with antenna training and
measurement system (ATMS) designed by Mubarak Hi-tech and vector network analyzer (VNA).
An introduction will be given to the equipment to be used in the subsequent labs. Typically, two
types of measurements are obtained for antennas, (i) Radiation pattern, (ii) Return loss. The
radiation pattern will be measured in ATMS whereas return loss will be measured using VNA.
Firstly, ATMS will be introduced followed by nano VNA. The ATMS system consists of
following modules:
• Antenna Positioner (receiver)
• RF Generator with three sources
• Antenna kit

3.1 Antenna Positioner

The Antenna Positioner consists of a mast for the receiving antenna (antenna under test), a drive
motor, a signal detector, and Microcontroller based data acquisition. The drive motor is used to
rotate the mast while the rotation is controlled by the MATLAB software tool via the Data
Acquisition Interface. An SMA connector, mounted on the base of the mast, allows a connection
to be made between the receiving antenna and the signal detector. This detector provides a signal
whose voltage depends on the power level of received RF signal. This signal is available on
analog to digital converter (ADC) of a microcontroller pin for connection to the data acquisition
interface (DAI).

Figure 1.1: Antenna Positioner (receiver)

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The DAI links the antenna positioner with the personal computer that runs the MATLAB
software. The link to the computer is achieved through a USB port at the rear panel of the module.
The DAI converts the received signal from the detector into a digital signal which can be
processed by the computer. It also controls the motor rotation. This module has its own DC power
supply circuit.

3.2 RF Generator

The RF generator contains three independent sources with frequencies of 1 GHz, 3 GHz and 10
GHz. Each source has a separate SMA output connector. The RF generator is self-powered and
has its own DC power supply.

Figure 1.2: RF Generator

3.3 Antenna Kit

The antenna kit contains various antennas such as wire, loop, patch and horn etc. have been
developed for use with ATMS at frequencies 1 GHz, 3 GHz and 10 GHz.

Figure 1.3: Antenna Kit

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3.4 Measurement Procedure

The antenna pattern measurement setup is displayed in Figure 1.4. The procedure to measure the
radiation pattern is as follows,
1. Connect the transmitter antenna to the RF generator via coaxial cable as shown in above
figure.
2. Mount the antenna under test on antenna positioner as shown in figure. Connect the Rx
antenna to receiver via coax cable as shown in figure. The polarizations of transmitting
and receiving antennas must be aligned properly. The distance between both antennas
must be greater far-field distance.
3. Turn ON the desired RF source and antenna positioner.
4. Open up the ATMS software as shown in Figure 1.5. Select the required com port, click
on the desired frequency. The receiver antenna will start rotating and real time radiation
pattern of antenna under test will be plotted on PC screen. The rotation will stop once the
antenna completes the 360o rotation. The radiation pattern of antenna under test will be
displayed on PC screen. The pattern can be saved in various formats such as jpg, pdf etc.
5. Save the pattern figure and copy the data file for analysis in MATLAB.

Figure 1.4: ATMS setup

The user interface of ATMS software is displayed in Figure 1.5. Select the appropriate source
from the interface.

Figure 1.5: User interface

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4 Portable Vector Network Analyzer (Nano VNA-F)

Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) is the most commonly used instrument in the field of RF and
microwave, VNA measures the S-parameters of device under test (DUT) across a desired
frequency range. VNA is used to measure antenna impedance, return loss, cable loss, filters,
power splitters, couplers, duplexers, amplifiers, etc.
NanoVNA-F V2 is new generation 3 GHz portable vector network analyzer. The VNA is a dual-
port portable vector network analyzer that can be used to measure the S11 of antenna, or to
measure the S11 and S21 parameters of a dual-port network. If you need to measure the S22 and
S12 parameters of the dual-port network, you can obtain it by exchanging the ports. The user
manual is given in the annex-A.

Figure 1.6: Portable VNA

5.1 Features

Frequency range 50 kHz to 3 GHz

Dynamic range 50 dB
4 traces and 101 sweep points
4.3-inch IPS LCD
Aluminum alloy case
Dimension: 130 mm × 75 mm × 22 mm
SMA connectors, easy to connect with device under test
Built-in 3.7 V, 5000 mAh lithium battery, standby time up to 7 hours
Screen brightness adjustable
Equipped with SMA calibration kit and RG405 cable
5V/1A USB power output port
Compatible with PC software
Support screenshot command

Figure 1.7: Parts of VNA

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 6. Introduction to VNA Software (Nanovna-Saver)

Double click on the software icon . The folowing window pops up showing a typical
display when an antenna is connected. Press connect to device for connection with VNA.

The following setting will produce the above layout.

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Answer the following questions:

1. Which antenna measurements are obtained from ATMS?

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2. Which antenna measurements are obtained from VNA?

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3. Write down the names of ATMS modules?

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4. What is the frequency range of VNA?

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5. How do you obtain a radiation pattern using ATMS? Write down the procedure.
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 Department of Electrical Engineering

Military College of Signals

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