Frequency control of electrical length for bicone antennas

An antenna system comprising:

• a first conductive cone element;
• a second conductive cone element positioned on a common axis with the first conductive cone element to form a bicone antenna comprising a first length along the common axis;
• and
• one or more filter elements disposed along the first length and subdividing the bicone antenna into one or more reduced length bicone antennas having electrical lengths less than the first length.

A method for operating a bicone antenna with frequency controlled electrical length comprising the steps of:

• providing the bicone antenna with a filter element positioned within conductive cone elements of the bicone antenna;
• restricting a high frequency range of a wideband signal to a reduced length of the bicone antenna in response to the filter element providing a substantially open circuit at high frequencies;
• exciting the reduced length of the bicone antenna with the high frequency range of the wideband signal to induce propagation of electromagnetic waves in a medium surrounding the antenna;
• permitting a low frequency range of the wideband signal to excite an increased length of the bicone antenna in response to the filter element providing a substantially closed circuit at lower frequencies;
• and
• exciting the increased length of the bicone antenna with the low frequency range of the wideband signal to induce propagation of electromagnetic waves in a medium surrounding the antenna.

An antenna system comprising:

• a conductive cone element comprising:
• a first section having a conical form;
• and
• a second section having a truncated conical form;
• and
• a filter element disposed between the first section and the second section.