Electromagnetic vortices, which describe the orbital angular momentum(OAM) carrying waves with a helical phase front, have recently attracted much interest in a radio frequency domain due to their potential applications in many diverse areas. In an OAM-based scenario, the antenna for OAM mode multiplexing/demultiplexing plays an essential role in controlling the overall system performance. In this paper, we demonstrated theoretically and experimentally an easily realized OAM antenna based on the traveling-wave circular loop structure for efficiently multiplexing/demultiplexing multiple OAM modes; in addition, its general propagation characteristics including the polarization, divergence, and radiation pattern are mathematically analyzed. Schemes for antenna size reduction and various radiation pattern manipulations have also been discussed to realize a more flexible and compact system.