Characterization of a Mechanical Antenna Based on Rotating Permanent Magnets

Mechanical antennas with rotating permanent magnets are a relatively new type of transmitting antenna in low- and ultralow-frequency (LF/ULF) ranges. The perspectives of the applications are encouraging, especially in the field of non-destructive defectoscopy and communications through conductive media (underwater communications), which is reflected in the articles published in the last decade. This article describes the experimental setup, results, harmonic analysis, and simulation validation for two configurations of mechanical antennas with rotating NdFeB permanent magnets. The emphasis is placed on the known analytical equations, specifically on the matching of the measurement results with the analytical data as well as with the results given by the numerical analysis. Also, several means of measurement are used to validate the results through replicate testing. Through analytical analysis and the performed measurement, this article establishes the basics for designing mechanical antennas with rotating permanent magnets for the considered configurations based on a single static magnetic field measurement. Finally, we explore prospects for future research in this domain as well as the advantages and disadvantages compared to other types of LF/ULF antennas.