Patent ID: 9705186
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: H01Q

Claim:
1. A modular buoyant cable antenna for use with an underwater vehicle comprising: an encapsulating cylindrical encasement joined to an underwater vehicle via a transmission line, wherein the encasement is made from a potting compound that encapsulates a plurality of electronic components of the antenna; a buoyant section joined to said encapsulating cylindrical encasement, wherein the buoyant section is a cable made of polyethylene foam that provides buoyancy in seawater; four identical antenna elements that are attached to and protrude from said encapsulating cylindrical encasement wherein the four identical antenna elements are arranged symmetrically around the encasement in a cross configuration where two elements are directly aligned at one hundred eighty degrees in a first spatial plane and the other two elements are directly aligned at one hundred eighty degrees in a second spatial plane parallel to the first spatial plane such that each element is perpendicular to an adjacent element in the adjacent parallel spatial plane, wherein in operation at least one element is extended vertically above and perpendicular to a water surface when the antenna is deployed regardless of the encasement rotations as the antenna moves along the surface of the water, wherein the four antenna elements are designed to bend and fold against the sides of the encasement when the antenna is not deployed such that when bent and folded against the encasement the four antenna elements are nested in grooves that are molded in the encasement and machined in the buoyant section, such that the overall cross-sectional diameter of the antenna remains constant when the four antenna elements are folded into the grooves, wherein each of the four antenna elements are electrically connected within the encasement to the transmission line at a single connection point; a tunable impedance matching network for impedance matching the antenna, wherein said matching network is electrically connected to the four antenna elements after the single connection point; wherein the design and dimensions of the modular buoyant cable antenna allow it to float on the surface of a body of water while being towed by an underwater vehicle to be deployed and retrieved by an existing cable antenna deployment and retrieval system; wherein each antenna element is fabricated in sections from different materials comprising: