Dream Catcher ME1310 User manual

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ME1310 Antenna and
Propagation (3D)
Lab 1 - 1/18
ME1310 Antenna and Propagation (3D)
Lab 1
Introduction to 3D Radiation Pattern
Measurement
Rev 1.03
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For further information, see the Courseware Product License Agreement.
Objective
i) To understand the operating fundamentals of 3D radiation pattern measurements
ii) To measure and plot antenna radiation patterns
Equipment Required
i) ME1310 training kit
ii) Keysight N9912A FieldFox RF analyzer
iii) Keysight 85033E standard mechanical calibration kit (optional)
iv) A pair of 2400 MHz dipole antennas
Accessories Required
i) 1 × 5 V power adapter
ii) 1 × Type A-to-Type B USB cable
iii) 2 × SMA(m)-to-SMA(m) RF coaxial cable
iv) 1 × LAN cable
v) 2 x N(m)-to-SMA(f) adapter
vi) A PC running Microsoft®Windows XP/Vista®/7/10 with a minimum of 1 GB RAM, pre-installed
with setup prerequisites and the RadPat v4 software (Refer to the ME1310 Quick Start Guide for
the installation procedures)

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................3
2. Antenna Radiation Pattern Measurement .............................................................................................5
2.1 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna Measurement.....................................................................................5
2.2 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna 3D Radiation Pattern Measurement ..................................................8
3. Discussions..........................................................................................................................................12
Appendix A: Antenna Pattern for 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna vs 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna (Vertical
Polarize)......................................................................................................................................................13
Appendix B: Tips on How to Calibrate the Keysight N9912A FieldFox RF Analyzer .................................15
S11 Calibration......................................................................................................................................15
S21 Calibration......................................................................................................................................16
Revision History ..........................................................................................................................................17
Contact Us...................................................................................................................................................18

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1. Introduction
An antenna radiation pattern is a representation of the field strength or power intensity versus the
antenna orientation angle. For a receiving antenna, the antenna radiation pattern shows the received
signal level at various directions (angles). Similarly, for a transmitting antenna, the antenna radiation
pattern shows its field strength at various directions at a constant distance. The antenna radiation pattern
of most antennas is valid when receiving and transmitting.
An antenna radiation pattern may consist of several lobes. Most of the power is concentrated in the main
lobe. The 3-dB beamwidth is the angle between two points, which are 3 dB lower than the main lobe
maximum. Figure 1 illustrates the radiation pattern lobes together with different power points and
beamwidth.
Figure 1 –Radiation pattern lobes
The antenna radiation pattern is usually shown in two planes. For a dipole antenna, its H-plane antenna
radiation pattern will be plotted if both antennas are placed vertically, while its E-plane antenna radiation
pattern will be plotted if both antennas are placed horizontally. The E-plane radiation pattern is defined as
“the plane containing the electric field vector and the direction of maximum radiation”, and the H-plane
radiation pattern is defined as “the plane containing the magnetic field vector and the direction of
maximum radiation”.
With advancement of mobile telecommunication technology, it is crucial to measure the radiation pattern
of an antenna in full spherical format, or also known as 3D radiation pattern. Typically, antenna
manufacturers do not provide 3D radiation pattern but only in H-planes and E-planes radiation patterns.
This will not create any issue if the antenna is used for large macro cells or long-distance communication.
However, as microcells or picocells deployments are getting more and more common for indoor mobile
communication, the knowledge of antenna radiation field strength for the angles in between H-plane and
E-plane has become an imperative requirement. For path loss measurement and antenna efficiency
measurement, it is essential to measure and build a 3D radiation pattern.

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Antenna radiation pattern measurement should take place in the far-field region. The distance between
both antennas, r, must be large enough so that the antennas are in the far-field region where,

2
2D
r
 = wavelength, and
D = largest dimension of the antenna under test (AUT)

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2. Antenna Radiation Pattern Measurement
2.1 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna Measurement
Note: To get the best accuracy, you should perform calibration before making any measurements on your
network analyzer. The recommended calibration kit is the Keysight 85033E. Please refer to Appendix B,
“S21 Calibration” for the calibration procedure.
Figure 2 –Equipment setup
1. Set up the equipment as shown in Figure 2.
2. Two 2400 MHz 2 dipole antennas are used for the measurement. Mount one of the dipole
antennas on the top connector of the fixed antenna holder on the transmitter module (Tx). This is
the transmitting antenna. Orientate the antenna for vertical polarization and broadside to the other
antenna-under-test (AUT). The orientation of the transmitting and receiving antennas are shown
in Figure 4.
3. Use an RF coaxial cable to connect the RF OUT connector of the N9912A FieldFox RF analyzer
to the RF IN connector of the transmitter module (Tx).

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4. Mount the other 2400 MHz dipole antenna (AUT) on the top connector of the rotatable antenna
holder on the receiver module (Rx). This is the receiving antenna.
5. Adjust the RX pole’s horizontal distance, make sure the pcb antenna is align to the RX pole.
Figure 3 –RX Module
6. Orientate the receiving antenna broadside to the transmitting antenna as shown in Figure for
vertical polarization and maximum reception.
Figure 4 –Orientation of receiving and transmitting antennas for vertical polarization
50 cm
AUT
(Rx)
Tx

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7. Use another RF coaxial cable to connect the RF OUT connector of the receiver module (Rx) to
the RF IN connector of the N9912A.
8. Adjust the distance between the antennas to 50 cm and make sure that they are in the far-field
region. Record the distance and the heights of the antennas in the corresponding record form as
given in Appendix A.
9. Connect the Type A-to-Type B USB cable to the receiver module (RX) and PC.
10. Plugin the 5 V power adaptor to the receiver module (RX).
11. Connect the LAN cable to the Keysight N9912A FieldFox RF analyzer and PC.
12. Turn on the 5V power adaptor and Keysight N9912A FieldFox RF analyzer.
13. Open the RadPat v4 software. Click the Settings button and click Connect.
14. Set the start frequency to 2375 MHz and the stop frequency to 2425 MHz under the RF
(Frequency Range.
15. Set Frequency of Interest to 2400 MHz. This is the frequency of the antenna-under-test (AUT).
16. Click Configure to enter the instrument setting configuration and click Save & Exit. This will bring
the rotator back to its home position and configure the N9912A settings.
17. After the homing operation and the N9912A configuration have completed, the window will return
to the RadPat v4 main interface and the main panel will be enabled.
Figure 5 –Main panel
18. Click 2D Radiation Pattern, set the Step Size under the Rotator Control panel to 10 Deg/Step
and set the Range Scan from 0 to 350 degrees.
19. Click Play on the main panel to begin plotting the antenna radiation pattern.
20. After the plotting finished, click Add under the Marker panel to add a marker. You should see a
new entry of Marker 1 added under the Marker panel. Triple-click on the row of the newly added
entry under the Plot column until a drop-down box appears. Then, select Plot 1 to assign the
marker to the plotted radiation pattern.
21. Drag the marker to Position (Degree) 0 using the mouse. Then, record the reading shown under
the Marker panel under the dB column into Appendix A. Repeat this step and increase the
position by 10 degrees until it reaches 350 degrees.
22. Determine the value of max PR, based on the radiation pattern plotting, and calculate the
Normalized (dB) value for each step.
NOTE
Normalized values can be calculated by dividing values with the max PR.
23. Using the polar chart in Appendix A, hand plot the antenna radiation pattern and normalized data
recorded. Compare the hand-plotted antenna radiation pattern with the one plotted using the
RadPat v4 software.
24. Save the radiation pattern plot by clicking the Save button. A dialog box showing the file path of
saved plot should appear.
25. You may open the saved file (.csv file) using Microsoft Excel for further analysis.

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2.2 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna 3D Radiation Pattern Measurement
1. Set up the equipment as shown in Figure below.
Figure 6 –Antenna orientation for 3D radiation pattern measurement
2. In the RadPat v4 software, select 3D Radiation Pattern and then configure the Step Size under
the Rotator Control panel to 10 Deg/Step.
50 cm
AUT
(Rx)
Tx

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3. Ensure that the antenna is located at 0 degrees by adjusting the knob as shown in Figure 7. Click
the Play button and a pop-up window will appear. If the antenna is already located at 0 degrees,
click Ok to proceed with the measurement. The ME1310 Rx unit will first rotate to 90 degrees,
and the AUT radiation pattern measurement at 0 degrees will then begin.
Figure 7 –Initial angle of AUT
4. Once the measurement is completed, rotate the antenna to 10 degrees by adjusting the knob as
shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8 –AUT Angle rotated to 10 degrees
5. Click Next (in the pop-up window shown in Figure 9) and the ME1310 Rx unit will first rotate to
90 degrees, and the AUT radiation pattern measurement at 10 degrees will then begin.
Rotate to
10º

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Figure 9 –3D radiation pattern measurement pop-up window
6. Repeat step 4 and 5 for until the knob meets 350 degrees. The recorded radiation patterns will be
saved in the specified directory.
7. Click Ok. Then click Clear All to remove the measurement data.
8. Change the orientation of the 2400 MHz 2 dipole antenna on the transmitter module (TX) to
Horizontal position as shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10 –Antenna orientation for 3D radiation pattern measurement
9. Repeat step 3 to step 7.
10. In the RadPat v4 software, select 3D Plot as shown in Figure 11.
Figure 11 –3D Plot function for plotting 3D radiation pattern
Tx
Horizontal
position

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11. At the pop-up 3D Plot window (shown in Figure 12), select the directory where the H-Plane and
V-Plane 3D radiation patterns measurement data are located. Set a suitable dB Range for the 3D
plot (for example 30 dB) and then click OK.
Figure 12 –3D Radiation pattern plot menu
12. Record the plotted 3D radiation pattern in Appendix A.

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3. Discussions
1. Why is the 3D antenna radiation pattern essential to be studied in modern mobile
communication? Discuss it from the view of an antenna performance evaluation.
2. Based on the measured 3D antenna radiation pattern, sketch the E-plane and H-plane of the
dipole antenna radiation pattern. Briefly discuss the differences between the two plots.
3. Antenna radiation pattern measurements are to be measured in an anechoic chamber to achieve
high accuracy. Discuss what could be the source errors if antenna radiation pattern is not
measured in an anechoic chamber.

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Appendix A: Antenna Pattern for 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna vs 2400 MHz
Dipole Antenna (Vertical Polarize)

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3D Antenna Radiation Pattern for 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna vs 2400 MHz Dipole Antenna
Sample 3D Record Data:
3D Record 2400 MHz.zip

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Appendix B: Tips on How to Calibrate the Keysight N9912A FieldFox
RF Analyzer
S11 Calibration
Figure 12 –Setup for S11 calibration
1. Set up the connections as shown in Figure 12, and then connect the calibration kit to the SMA
connector. The suggested calibration kit for the following calibration procedure is the Keysight
85033E.
2. On the N9912A front panel, press Mode. Use the softkey to select NA, and then select S11.
3. Press Cal (button #5) on the N9912A front panel. Use the softkeys to select [O,S,L] for the
Calibration Type.
4. Select Start Cal and press the corresponding softkey Open –F–.
5. Connect the OPEN CIRCUIT calibration kit to the SMA connector and press Measure.
6. Upon completing the measure, press the corresponding softkey Short –F–.
7. Connect the SHORT CIRCUIT calibration kit to the SMA connector and press Measure.
8. Upon completing the measure, press the corresponding softkey Load –F–.
9. Connect the TERMINATION calibration kit to the SMA connector and press Measure.
10. Upon completing the measurement, press Finish to complete the O,S,L calibration. The
calibration can be repeated again at any time in the event that the calibration kit was not properly
connected during the calibration process.

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S21 Calibration
Figure 13 –Setup for S21 calibration
1. Set up the connections as shown in Figure 13.
2. On the N9912A front panel, press Mode. Use the softkey to select NA, and then select S21.
3. Press Cal (button #5) on the N9912A front panel. Use the softkey to select Normalize.
4. Then, select Thru.
5. Select Measure after completing the setup.
6. Upon the completion of Step 5, press Finish to complete the Norminal calibration. The calibration
can be repeated again at any time in the event that the calibration kit was not properly connected
during the calibration process.

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Revision History
Revisions
Descriptions
1.00
Initial document
1.01
Revised Section 2.2 3D Radiation Procedures.
1.02
Revised Section 2.1, 2.2 figures and procedures. Changed antenna to 2400
MHz dipole antenna.
1.03
1. Changed equipment setup diagram (Figure 2) for more clarity.
2. Change the setup photo for Figure 4, 6 and 10 for more clarity.

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Contact Us
Contact Us
Acehub Vista Sdn Bhd (785702-P)
A member of the DreamCatcher group
70-03-79, D’Piazza Mall,
Jalan Mahsuri,
11900 Bayan Lepas,
Penang, Malaysia.
All rights reserved. No part of this
document may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without prior
written permission of Acehub Vista Sdn.
Bhd.
Every effort has been made to ensure
that the information in this manual is
accurate. Acehub Vista Sdn. Bhd. is not
responsible for printing or clerical errors.
Trademark Acknowledgements
DreamCatcherTM is the trademark of Dream
Catcher Consulting Sdn. Bhd.
Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries. All other copyrights
and trademarks belong to their respective
owners.
© 2018 Acehub Vista Sdn. Bhd.