Design considerations for an archimedean slot spiral antenna

The design goal is to develop a 118-157 MHz, vertically polarized, low-profile (or conformal) antenna as a replacement for VHF AM blade antennas on aircraft. This design is to be arrived at by scaling the dimensions of an antenna designed for a center frequency of 1.1 GHz. The design prior to scaling may have the following maximum dimensions: diameter less than 3.70 in. and thickness less than 0.50 in. Although a four-arm spiral design was originally suggested, a two-arm spiral may also be used, as both mode-1 and mode-2 (sum and difference) radiation patterns aren't required. While a four-arm spiral can easily be designed should both sum and difference patterns be required, the two-arm design will provide the required sum pattern and simplify the design problem somewhat: only one feed is required, and the feed area geometry is more straightforward. Polarization requirements dictate that a slot spiral be used, as opposed to a wire spiral. Two similar radiating structures were considered. The first is the standard archimedean spiral antenna. The second is a hollow archimedean spiral antenna, essentially a standard archimedean spiral with the inner portion removed.