These Satellite Antennas Were Inspired by Origami

[myteaquinn]

Interesting article. But how much paper do you need to make an antenna for the 43 meter band?

https://www.airspacemag.com/airspacemag/satellite-antennas-inspired-origami-180972978/

[Ray Lalleu]

Interesting article. But how much paper do you need to make an antenna for the 43 meter band?

Design an 'origami wire' antenna. Just an idea : a halfwave long approx. antenna, but in a loop design, with the end of the arms facing to each other, then find a way to mechanically increase or decrease the distance between the parts that make a tuning capacitor.
An idea for that remote tuning without any electrical wire : air tube to some balloon, and a hand bike pump (for no RFI).
   

[ThaDood]

Huh??? To me, it looks like an inspiration from a toilet paper roll. i duh-know, but when I think of origami, I think of papered animals.

[Josh]

I can't see these working for long in space or near space. Space is actually corrosive and eats away at everything in it, a thinly plated origami antenna, already fragile, might not last long compared to solid metal wire antennae such as the typical quadri or crossed dipoles setup. Also, when a grain of meteorite or a paint fleck from a sat/rocket, much less a nut or bolt or a tesla car, traveling at 180000mph, is going to plasma vaporise a hole into anything it runs into.

[ThElectriCat]

This looks as far as I can tell like a foldable version of an single element axial endfire helical antenna (just a helix if you are familiar with satellite communications.
Those are usually several wavelengths long and the greater part of a wavelength or so in all other dimensions.
Pros.
        Nice wide bandwidth
        Tight beam of circularly polarized radiation
        Easy to match to 50 ohms with a flattened helix end
        Invented by John Kraus after a professor of his said "It will never work" (one does not stumble upon things this satisfying often)
Cons
        Ruining ones life by a mad, all consuming obsession to construct an antenna the size of a building and then figuring out how to point it as to work DX