What is "dipole antenna"

n. (context radio English) An antenna with a single, linear element, driven from the centre.

n. an aerial half a wavelength long consisting of two rods connected to a transmission line at the center [syn: dipole]

electric field of the wave (E, green arrows) pushes the electrons in the antenna elements back and forth (black arrows), charging the ends of the antenna alternately positive and negative. Since the antenna is a half-wavelength long at the radio wave's frequency, it excites standing waves of voltage (V, red) and current in the antenna. These oscillating currents flow down the transmission line into the radio receiver (represented by the resistor R). The action is shown slowed down in this animation.

In radio and telecommunications a dipole antenna or doublet is the simplest and most widely used class of antenna. It consists of two identical conductive elements such as metal wires or rods, which are usually bilaterally symmetrical. The driving current from the transmitter is applied, or for receiving antennas the output signal to the receiver is taken, between the two halves of the antenna. Each side of the feedline to the transmitter or receiver is connected to one of the conductors. This contrasts with a monopole antenna, which consists of a single rod or conductor with one side of the feedline connected to it, and the other side connected to some type of ground. A common example of a dipole is the "rabbit ears" television antenna found on broadcast television sets.

The most common form of dipole is two straight rods or wires oriented end to end on the same axis, with the feedline connected to the two adjacent ends. This is the simplest type of antenna from a theoretical point of view. Dipoles are resonant antennas, meaning that the elements serve as resonators, with standing waves of radio current flowing back and forth between their ends. So the length of the dipole elements is determined by the wavelength of the radio waves used. The most common form is the half-wave dipole, in which each of the two rod elements is approximately 1/4 wavelength long, so the whole antenna is a half-wavelength long. The radiation pattern of a vertical dipole is omnidirectional; it radiates equal power in all azimuthal directions perpendicular to the axis of the antenna. For a half-wave dipole the radiation is maximum, 2.15 dBi perpendicular to the antenna axis, falling monotonically with elevation angle to zero on the axis, off the ends of the antenna.

Several different variations of the dipole are also used, such as the folded dipole, short dipole, cage dipole, bow-tie, and batwing antenna. Dipoles may be used as standalone antennas themselves, but they are also employed as feed antennas ( driven elements) in many more complex antenna types, such as the Yagi antenna, parabolic antenna, reflective array, turnstile antenna, log periodic antenna, and phased array. The dipole was the earliest type of antenna; it was invented by German physicist Heinrich Hertz around 1886 in his pioneering investigations of radio waves.