Airport Spatial Usability in Measuring the Spherical Antenna Properties on Small Aircraft

The strict safety requirements of air transport for nonstandard placement of electronic onboard systems require an innovative approach to the experimental verification of the placement of these devices. Particular attention is required to the location of these electronic devices’ antenna systems on the fuselage. A prerequisite for determining the location of the antenna and verifying its radiation is a thorough knowledge of the radio communication transmission of onboard electronic systems in cooperation with terrestrial or satellite systems. From this point of view, this article focuses on an innovative method of verifying the spherical radiation characteristics of the antenna of an onboard rescue system emergency locator transmitter (ELT) to assess its communication link with the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system. The measurement is performed on a small sports two-seater aircraft with an antenna placed in an unusual place in the aircraft’s cabin, between the seats. It was impossible to use a suitable nonreflective attenuation chamber for the measurement, so we present a method and procedure for this type of measurement in the open space of an airport. The achieved results prove the plausibility and reproducibility of the measurement. Furthermore, combining several polar radiation characteristics makes it possible to obtain an idea, even if only a part, of the spatial (spherical) radiation characteristic. This article presents a simple method of measuring the characteristics of aircraft antennas when it is not possible to use a suitable professional nonreflective attenuation chamber for measurements for various reasons. This method can also be used on other larger means of transport or other objects that experience the same problem.