Can Valcom antennas be used in a phased array?
Since all Valcom whip antennas exhibit an omnidirectional radiation pattern, they are well suited for a phased array application. A phased array consists of multiple antennas connected together to act as a single antenna which allows the beam width and the directivity of the array to be controlled using electronic methods. That is, the antennas are not physically moved around, their directions are changed by controlling the various phase shifts introduced in the array by the other antennas or by phase shift circuits (see Figure 2). Because of this, an ideal antenna would have an omnidirectional characteristic so that it would have full signal strength no matter which direction it was ‘facing’.
