Reduced Hazard Plasma Antenna

Haleakala R & D, INC. will develop an innovative plasma antenna that provides high voltage protection to reduce the risk of electrical shocks from low overhead wires for dismounted radio. This plasma antenna will provide equivalent or better radiation pattern and omnidirectional gain as existing handheld or man pack radio antennas. It will also be made of a flexible plastic tube or blade with tiny glass beads lined on the inside of the plastic tube or blade to give flexibility collapsibility, storability, and stowability in a back pack or other means. It can be painted a camouflage color to diminish visibility. The plasma need only be turned on while is use and while not in use (plasma extinguished) it does not conduct current. The plasma is in a nonconductive, dielectric tube or blade which provides high voltage protection to reduce the risk of electrical shocks from low overhead wires for dismounted radio whether the plasma is on or extinguished. The plasma antenna which has the same shape, size and frequencies as a metal antenna will give the same radiation patterns as a corresponding metal antenna but with lower thermal noise and lower side lobes. The plasma antennas have reconfigurable properties that metal antennas do not. The simplest reconfigurablity is that the plasma can be extinguished when not in use while the metal in a metal antenna is always there and cannot be extinguished.