Design of a Dual-band Printed Quadrifilar Helix Antenna with Ultra-wide Beam Width for Satellite Communication

A dual-band printed quadrifilar helix antenna (PQHA) with ultra-wide beam width for S-band satellite communication is proposed in this paper. The antenna is characterized by its ultra-wide half-power beam width and wide 3dB axial ratio width, which is achieved with a simple structure that is easy to design and fabricate. The simulation results demonstrate that the impedance bandwidth is 85 MHz and 78 MHz, respectively, each of which exceeds twice the bandwidth requirement of both frequency bands (uplink:1995±15 MHz, downlink: 2185 ± 15 MHz) in the satellite communication. The 3 dB beam widths at the center frequency of the two bands of the antenna are 194.0° and 194.4°, respectively, and the gain of both frequency bands on the upper sphere is greater than 0.47dBi. Additionally the axial ratio width (lower than 3 dB ) reaches 170.6° and 176.2°, which can meet the requirements of satellite communication in the case of a large elevation angle.