New design of helical antenna array for L-band land mobile satellite communications

A new low profile helix antenna array with three variable pitch angle helix antenna elements has been designed for L-band land mobile satellite communications. The novelty of the antenna is that its input impedance matching can be tuned by changing the match stub size, while its circular polarization performance can be optimized by adjusting the pitch angle under the circumstance of a limited antenna height. An improved symmetry three-way equal power divider with high isolation is designed as a feed network. The simulated impedance and radiation pattern are studied. The proposed antenna array can produce a circular polarization bandwidth(axial ratio<3dB) of nearly 16%, and a vertical bar S-11 vertical bar<-15dB impedance bandwidth of nearly 26% It provides a promising SATCOM-on-the-move antenna array with a gain of higher than 12dBi for maritime satellite communication terminals applications.