Panel antenna

A panel antenna, in its simplest form, consists of a dipole placed ahead of a flat-panel reflector.

Most often, a panel antenna will be constructed as multiple "bays" - each consisting of an individual dipole placed before a shared reflector - with all of these bays connected in parallel to increase received signal strength.

These antennas are common at UHF frequencies, where they are often used for cellular/mobile base stations or wireless networking due to their size and directional properties. At VHF frequencies, such an antenna would be impractically large for most receiving applications unless implemented as no more than a two-bay design. Some full-power broadcast stations do use multiple panel antenna bays, installed one above the other on the side of a tall tower, to provide a directional transmitter pattern on these frequencies.

The panel antenna is not practical at HF or lower frequencies due to its mechanical size.