In this article the generation of high performance, low cost UWB signal is proposed using chaotic oscillator designed to operate in the desired band of interest. The UWB signal generator consists of a low cost, simple chaotic Colpitts oscillator. Selecting a particular set of parameters of the circuit, a large number of frequency components can be generated simultaneously under chaotic mode of operation. The oscillator output under this mode of operation can directly be utilized for exciting a UWB antenna without the need of the local oscillator and mixer. The proposed technique is a simple low cost solution for testing the UWB antenna. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:2393-2396, 2016