Stacked, multi-band look-through antenna

The present invention features a stacked, multi-band, antenna system consisting of a low-frequency, forward portion and a gridded, rear portion designed for operation at a higher frequency. Both front and rear radiating elements may share a common ground plane or the rear element may form a ground plane for the front element. Typically, the front antenna is a relatively narrow-band, gridded, bow-tie dipole or a similar radiating structure and the rear antenna is a wide-band dipole or slot element. Additional frequency bands may be designed into the inventive system by adding additional dipole or similar antenna elements above, below, or between the front and rear antennas. By properly choosing element sizes and spacings, and orienting the various antennas, a frequency band ratio of as little as 4:1 may be obtained.