I recall hearing stories that some guys attempted to "load" the very hot
gases that came off the trubines on some destroyer (DD963 ????). This
attempt was made during the development of the ship in about 1971 or 1972.
It did not work. It would be interesting to read the patent.
----------
> From: Doug Brandon <dab@kaiwan.com>
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Plasma antenna
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Date: Monday, April 28, 1997 2:22 PM
>
>
> I ran across this interesting article on a new antenna technology
> and thought some might find it interesting. It sounds like it's only
> good for digital transmissions, but it's definitely an interesting
> concept.
>
> 73 de Doug, N6RT
>
>
>
> Patriot announces contract with Navy for plasma antenna revolutionary
> patented antenna design
>
> SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 1997-- Patriot Scientific Corp
> Monday announced the receipt of a contract from the Office of Naval
> Research for the development of its revolutionary plasma antenna.
>
> In coordination with the Navy Command Control Ocean Surveillance Center
> in Washington, D.C., Patriot will construct and test prototypes and
> characterize their use both as receiving and transmitting antennas.
> An earlier prototype has shown numerous unique characteristics.
>
> Patriot's technology represents a fundamental paradigm shift in antenna
> design. Traditional antenna design employs solid wire as the active
> element. All solid wire antennas resonate -- that is, as part of the
> process of emitting a radio wave during operation an unwanted ringing
> occurs which can interfere with signal processing. This ringing causes
> clutter and often requires sophisticated signal processing to reduce
> its effect.
>
> Inventor Elwood Norris commented: "We employ an ionized gas, or plasma,
> as the efficient conducting element of our antenna. This gas may be
> ionized for nanoseconds, which is only the precise time needed for
> transmission or reception, thus eliminating ringing and its associated
> effects. This ability to emit extremely short pulses is often a critical
> factor in many forms of digital communication."
>
> The company believes the use of an ionized gas antenna element allows:
>
> -- An antenna that can be dynamically reconfigured for
> frequency, direction, bandwidth, gain and beamwidth.
>
> -- When de-ionized, the antenna's radar cross-section, thus its
> detectability, is minimal thereby exhibiting stealth qualities.
>
> -- An antenna that is small and lightweight as well as
> electronically steerable.
>
> In 1996, a patent with 48 claims was issued to Patriot and for a period
> of time the patent was classified "Secret." That status has now been
> removed. The technology was initially developed for the company's ground
> penetrating radar but has much broader applications.
>
> Antenna Project Manager Del Kintner commented: "This is the first
contract
> of several we hope to secure as we move towards commercialization of this
> new technology. For military applications, size, weight, configurability
> and detectability are often critical factors. For commercial
applications,
> size, weight, power and short pulse generation are key factors.
>
>
> /*-------------------------------------------------------------------*/
> Doug Brandon http://www.kaiwan.com/~dab dab@kaiwan.com
>
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