What are the Different Types of Antennas? The Complete List

A broadcasting antenna or broadcast antenna is an antenna typically used in radio or television broadcasting, although other applications exist such as radioteletype and land mobile radio systems. 

These types of antennas use some type of directional design to direct the radio waves into a broad beam shape.

For example, if an antenna was designed to broadcast at a frequency of 100 MHz (megahertz) and 200 MHz, it would need to be able-bodied enough to do so regardless of what direction the user is facing.

Some common types include omnidirectional, log-periodic antennas, and yagi antennas.

A log-periodic antenna has a similar function to an omnidirectional antenna; it broadcasts signals coming from all directions equally.

This type of antenna is commonly used because it's flexible and easy to set up.

The log-periodic antenna is a directional antenna, which means it can direct or beam the energy in one direction better than other types of antennas.

The most common form of antenna is the "dipole" type. It is a simple design element that can be used to both broadcast and receive electromagnetic waves over a wide range of frequencies. 

It consists of two conductors (of equal length) which are parallel and spaced apart from one another.

Dipole antennas are commonly found in portable radios, walkie-talkies, and other types of devices that operate on low power.

These antennas can be either omnidirectional or directional. A half wave dipole antenna is a type of dipole that has a single half wave conductor on each side.

Folded Dipole Antennas: In general, the foldover design means that the elements are folded back over onto themselves in order to reduce the size of the antenna while retaining its basic operating capabilities.

You may like: The Best CB Base Antennas - Complete TESTED List

 This type of antenna is made from a length of wire that is one-half of the wavelength or longer.

A quarter-wave monopole is still technically a dipole, but it operates at its resonance frequency and thus does not require design considerations as do other antennas.

 This directional antenna consists of several thin rod elements, all of which are aligned in a row. A single element is straight while the rest of the rods are parasitic, meaning they are curved or angled opposite the main direction of the antenna's main beam or axis. The Yagi-Uda design was developed by two Japanese engineers named Hidetsugu Yagi and Shintaro Uda as a way to improve the performance of a dipole antenna.

 The simplest type of "wireless" antenna is the monopole antenna, which is actually any vertical metal pole that broadcasts the radio waves from one end and receives them at the other tip. This simple monopole antenna design has been used since man first discovered that radio waves could be used to transmit messages.

 This type of antenna is a variation in the dipole design. It consists of a U-shaped metal loop or strips with an opening at one end that has been folded over onto itself. The aperture antenna uses the opposite electric and magnetic field behavior than traditional dipole antennas.

This is a variation of the dipole antenna that has been configured for multiple bands, allowing it to transmit and receive on multiple frequencies simultaneously. Such antennas are typically used in mobile devices such as cell phones because they are designed to pick up transmissions from different cellular networks within one device.

 To achieve better overall performance, many antennas use reflectors to shape and direct the energy radiated by the antenna.

This makes it easier for the antenna to "capture" weaker signals that would otherwise be lost. The parabolic reflector antenna consists of one or more concave metal dishes which act as both reflector and director elements.

The parasitic elements are the ones that do not perform as well acoustically, but they help direct the energy in the desired direction. 

The Yagi-Uda antenna takes this idea to another level, with almost every element being parasitic and thus acting as both reflector and director.

Patch antennas are small square or rectangular metal plates with two grounding points and a "feed point" and are typically used for wireless communication devices such as cell phones, walkie-talkies or Wi-Fi routers.

The phased array antenna has many different variations and can be designed to emit beams of energy in almost any direction.

A typical example consists of an assemblage of multiple individual dipoles arranged in an array and driven by a transmitter that has either manual or electronic beam steering capabilities.

A lens antenna is a specific type of phased array that uses a large metal sheet with many holes in it.

The holes focus the radio waves into a tight beam and increase the gain of the antenna significantly over a wide range of frequencies.

A comb-array or "spiral" antenna has elements arranged in a cylindrical shape. It uses the same basic technology as a Yagi-Uda antenna but is designed with loops that are spaced around the periphery of a cylinder rather than in a straight line.

A loop antenna consists of one or more loops of wire which are typically arranged in the shape of a circle, oval or square.

This type of antenna is typically used as a receiving device to pick up very low-power long-distance transmissions from AM radios, police radar guns and other remote devices with limited power capabilities.

A grid antenna is a type of linear array in which the receiver, transmitter or both are mounted on an angle to provide better rejection of noise or interference that may be present within the transmission medium.

This type of antenna operates by adding parasitic (director) elements that are staggered on either side of the main (driven) element to form a grid or "shingle."

Folded-dipole antennas have been modified by adding a third arm to the dipole so they will be folded over on themselves thus reducing their height.

This type of antenna is frequently used by amateur radio operators and in limited space situations such as on a sailboat.

You may like: The 4 Types of CB Radios 

A frequency-independent antenna is an antenna that does not depend on the matching of impedance to provide its bandwidth.

 The phased array antenna has many different variations and can be designed to emit beams of energy in almost any direction.

A typical example consists of an assemblage of multiple individual dipoles arranged in an array and driven by a transmitter that has either manual or electronic beam steering capabilities.

A microstrip antenna is a planar conductor antenna consisting of a conductive strip on the surface of a dielectric substrate.

It can be considered as a variation of two-dimensional aperture antenna with the aperture in one dimension.

A phased array antenna is a large multi-element directional radio antenna consisting of two or more individual antennas that are coupled together to achieve directional characteristics that aren't possible with a single antenna element.

A horn antenna is a type of directional antenna consisting of an open-ended waveguide in the shape of a horn.

Horn antennas are widely used as directive radio receiving antennas, in both civilian and military services. The polar diagram of the radiation pattern in

Radiation Pattern: This is a plot that shows the relative field strength or power density vs. the angle in the horizontal plane (azimuth) and also vs. the vertical plane (elevation).

The polar diagram shows one possible radiation pattern of an antenna at right angles to its main beam, while other plots show how it would look in various directions within the main beam including side lobes.