Inside Wireless: Gain Measurement

Do you know how to measure an Antenna Gain? In this Inside Wireless episode, we'll tell you how!
Watch our first video on antenna measurements where we explain everything about gain measurement - what inputs do we need, where are antennas measured, how to do the measurement and process the data.

Check out our previous Inside Wireless episode about Antenna Gain:    • Inside Wireless: Antenna Gain  

Measuring antenna gain involves placing the antenna and measurement equipment in a large open space sufficient for the radiation pattern to fully develop. This is known as the Farfield region.

The majority of measurements are done in an Anechoic chamber - a specialized room designed to absorb all electromagnetic waves and mitigate reflections.

The measurement equipment includes:
- High Frequency Signal Generator,
- Signal Detector
- or VNA - Vector Network Analyzer which combines the functions of both in one
- Reference Antenna - an antenna that had its gain precisely measured at a laboratory
- Source Antenna - any antenna that can radiate the generated RF signal in the frequency range we want

Gain Measurement Process:
1. We connect source antenna to the signal generator and the reference antenna to the signal detector.
2. We measure the signal strength in dBm that is received at the detector and store it as a reference value. We do this for all frequencies for which we want to measure the antenna gain, and setup calibration is done.
3. Then we replace the reference antenna with our antenna and we measure received signal strength as before.
4. Processing - Gain is calculated by comparing these signal strengths to recorded reference values and the reference antenna datasheet. By plotting these numbers on a XY chart we get the representation of antenna gain we are all used to.

https://rfelements.com/

00:00 - What is Antenna Gain Measurement
00:24 - Measuring Setup
00:51 - Measurement Equipment
01:25 - Calibration
01:45 - Measurement & Processing

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