
4 Antennas
4.1 Antenna characteristics
4.1.1 Bandwidth
Stated as a percentage of the nominal design frequency, the bandwidth
of an antenna is the band of frequencies over which it is considered to
perform acceptably. The limits of the bandwidth are characterized by
unacceptable variations in the impedance which changes from resis-
tive at resonance to reactive, the radiation pattern, and an increasing
VSWR.
4.1.2 Beamwidth
In directional antennas the beamwidth, sometimes called half-power
beamwidth (HPBW), is normally specified as the total width, in
degrees, of the main radiation lobe at the angle where the radiated
power has fallen by 3 dB below that