a. The VIRTUAL GROUND RF BALUN
TRANSFORMER described hereby allows the doubling of the ½ wavelength folded
dipole's radiator.
b. The virtual ground RF balun transformer described hereby
allows to demonstrate that in a ½ wavelength folded dipole antenna, its
radiator (having a characteristic impedance of 300 ohm) acts as it was made of
two distinct radiators, identical to each other and coinciding with each
other, while being fed in a counterphase arrangement, having each of them a
characteristic impedance of 150 Ohm, referred to the virtual ground node.
c. The virtual ground RF balun transformer described hereby
allows to demonstrate that the ½ wavelength folded dipole radiator and,
indeed, any other resonant loop, be it made of any shape, with both a single
turn or a multiple turn winding, when it is correctly fed with a sinusoidal
radio-electric signal of a proper wavelength, it is always interested by
electric currents that flow along its entire length from one end to the other
in a clockwise direction for a semi-period and anti-clockwise during the next
semi-period or viceversa.
Circuit
description
The Author, by means of a particular radio-electric
circuitry for the suppression of any which one of the two branches of a ½
of wavelength open dipole, has previously demonstrated that it is, indeed,
possible to feed each of the two branches of an ½ wavelength open dipole
independently, so that they can become electrically independent from each
other allowing, therefore, to suppress any which one of them without
repercussions on the condition of resonance and radiation of the remaining
one. On that occasion, the Author has introduced the reader to the concept
and the method for generating a virtual ground node for the separation of the
dipole's branch currents.
The ½ wavelength folded dipole antenna has a single wiring radiator and,
therefore, does not allow the independent usage of the currents flowing on
it, both in a clockwise and anti clockwise way.
The present invention allows to split up the folded dipole radiator into two
nearly-coinciding wirings in order to demonstrate that the single folded
dipole radiator acts as if it was made of two identical but distinct wirings
coinciding with each other and each working cyclically for the duration of a
semi-period.
This result has been achieved by means of a lumped-constants radio-electric
circuit, based around a broad-band flux-coupled radio electric balun
transformer(1) winded on a binocular type ferrite core having a primary
winding(2) exhibiting an impedance value equal the one of the transmission
line(10) being used and a center-tapped secondary winding(3) exhibiting an
impedance value of 150 + 150 Ohm.
The said impedance values are referred to the virtual ground node(4
& 6). (a virtual ground node is defined as a point in an electrical
circuit that appears to be at ground, but is not actually attached to ground,
it is therefore, a node having a 0 degree phase angle difference with respect
to ground and has the same electrical potential as the Earth)
The virtual ground node is made available to the whole circuit by means of a
very short electrical connection(6) between the transformer center-tapping(4)
and the balun chassis(5).
The transformer's working point is optimized by compensation with the
employment of high-voltage RF duty capacitors(9).
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It is important to highlight the fact that the two
independently fed branches(7 & 8) can also be independently rotated around
their common axis to give a variable radiation pattern which ranges from a
typical dipole's radiation pattern, if the arms are parallel to each other or
a quasi-omnidirectional radiation pattern in the case of the arms being
placed perpendicularly to each-other (turnstile arrangement).
The balun described hereby is characterized by
being a NON fluctuating
impedance RF electrical transformer. All of its
terminations impedance values are set by design, hence the impedance
transformation ratio is a function of them and not viceversa, unlike it
happens with any other balun arrangement.
Please, pay ATTENTION! This page relates to a
special applicazione for scientific purposes of the Errante's virtual
ground balun. To find out more on Errante's virtual ground
baluns for HF radio communications and its theory
click
here.