Lightweight deployable antenna system

A deployable antenna assembly comprising:

• a canister providing an elongated chamber therewithin;
• an elongated hollow mast extending within said chamber and having its upper end spaced below the upper end of said canister;
• a mounting member on he upper end of said mast;
• a first coaxial cable extending into said hollow mast to provide radio signals to said antenna assembly;
• four antenna members of resiliently deflectable wire spaced at 90 degree intervals about the periphery of said mounting member, and each comprising a generally helical coil mounted on said mounting member and elongate arms extending downwardly along the periphery of said mounting member and along the inner wall of said canister, opposed pairs of said antenna members comprising dipoles;
• a pair of baluns connected to said coaxial cable and disposed adjacent said mounting member, each of said baluns comprising, seriatim, a core conductor, an insulating layer, a conductive shield, an insulating layer, and an outer conductive layer extending over a portion of the length thereof, said outer conductive layer being conductively bonded to said conductive shield at a point spaced from a feed to said conductive shield a distance equivalent to about 1/4 the effective wavelength for the intended radio transmissions, said conductive shield is a tubular metallic element, and wherein said outer conductive layer is a metallic tape spaced from said tubular metallic element by an insulating sleeve;
• a phase shifter connected between said coaxial cable and one of said baluns, said shifter comprising a length of a second coaxial cable disposed in a U-shaped configuration;
• a pair of first connectors, each first conenctor conductively connecting the core of one of the baluns to the coil of one of the antenna members of a respective dipole;
• a pair of second connectors, each second connector conductively connecting the conductive shield of one of the baluns to the coil of the other antenna member of the respective dipole;
• sealing means about said baluns and phase shifter;
• and
• canister removal means for projecting said canister upwardly to release said elongate arms for movement into a horizontal position, the coils of said antenna members being flexed when said elongate arms are in the downwardly extending position within said canister, said canister being slidable relative to said mast and said antenna members to free said arms therefrom for extension into said horizontal position.