A high-performance log-periodic dipole-antenna for radio frequency interference monitoring system at the sardinia radio telescope

The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is currently involved in the construction of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT). The radio observatory will be equipped with an accurate and sensitive Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) monitoring system, aimed to control if the radio bands allocated to the Radio Astronomy Service are actually free of interferences. This article describes a Log-Periodic Dipole-Antenna (LPDA) designed for such a system, operating with very high-performance in L-band and S-band. The LPDA, consisting of 38-elements, achieves a gain higher than 11 dBi with peaks up to 13 dBi and good impedance match in the whole band of interest: 1.2-2.5 GHz. The antenna was designed, manufactured, and finally tested in an anechoic chamber; the results for each step will be described in this article. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.