L. B. Cebik, W4RNL (SK) Knoxville, TN

Amateur Radio, Tales and Technicals

Amateur Radio is a communications service consisting of operators licensed and regulated in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission. Amateur radio operators, by regulation engage in emergency and other public service communications, maintain technical skills, and foster international good will via communications.

My personal interest in amateur radio focuses on research into and education about antennas and antenna modeling. The listings on this page link to some past and present research (and to some past research updated before posting on these pages). Since these are essentially working notebooks and not polished articles (for the most part), they may contain typos, misspellings, and a few grammatical infelicities. Moreover, they are subject to revision and updating whenever I discover something more accurate, more useful, or more interesting.

Tales and Technicals:
A Little History and a Lot of Antennas

From time-to-time, I shall post some yarns, mostly taken from my collection of old books, manuals, magazines, and handbooks. I shall also occasionally post from the pages of my notebooks some technical information that may be of use to fellow and prospective hams. To keep this index from being too long to use, I have placed many items in collected groups. So be sure to check the listings that appear to collect items together from time to time for additions. Since these are notes and some reprints of casual articles, there will be considerable overlap in places--and many large gaps in other areas. Nevertheless, let's begin with these items:

A Little History, a Little Humor, and a Little Seriousness

• The Wouff-Hong and The Rettysnitch: Lost Traditions? (02-16-1998)
• The Wouff-Hong, the Rettysnitch, and the What? The Uggerumph (04-27-2000)
• 10-10 and Lindbergh (02-10-1998)
• Q-signals in 1930 (02-10-1998, 01-08-2001)
• The RST Standard of Reporting (10-02-1997, 12-10-2001, 04-19-2004. 09-24-2006, 11-26-2006)
• A Time to Reminisce (02-21-1998)
• When Shacks Were Shacks (10-05-2005)
• To the Sea Again (08-21-2000)
• Why Call "CQ"? (06-20-1998)
• Everything Old Is New Again (10-28-1998)
• Antenna Newcomers and the Language of Antennas (06-15-2007)
• What's in a Name? (12-20-2005)
• A Ten-Minute Timer That Just Won't Quit (01-29-2000)
• Understanding and Producing Scientific and Technical Articles, Proposals, and Reports (07-28-1999, 10-21-2004)
• On Socio-Cybernetic Modeling (08-20-1999)
• So You Want to Sell an Antenna. . . (08-03-2005)
• PVC Gurneys for All Occasions (12-09-2002)
• Thoughts on Caring for a Terminally Ill Loved One (11-04-2002)
• In Memory of Jean (12-08-2002)

Antenna Modeling Software Notes

• Antenna Modeling Programs (01-12-2006)
• Model Planning Form (10-17-2007)
• Notes on Modeling Antenna Elements (05-10-1998)
• Notes on Modeling and Convergence Testing (06-23-1997)
• Reactive Antenna Loads and Their NEC Models Parts 1-5 (02-06-99)
• Modeling Loads and Transmission Lines Parts 1-4 (12-29-1997)
• Modeling Trap Antennas (04-02-1997)
• Preliminary Notes on Trap Placement (07-11-1997)
• Systematic Trap Modeling (07-12-1997)
• Why I Use dBi Mostly (06-23-1997)
• Some Pitfalls of Careless dBd-ing (06-03-1999)
• Getting the Most Out of Antenna Patterns (07-17-1997)
• Reading a NEC Deck (03-30-1997)
• NEC-4 vs. NEC-2 With Stepped-Diameter Correction and Autosegmentation (04-06-1997)
• Notes on Two Limitations of NEC-4 (04-10-1997)
• Multi-Diameter Dipoles: MININEC vs. NEC-4 (09-19-1997)
• Close-Spaced Wires: MININEC vs. NEC-4 (09-24-1997)
• Notes on Boom Effects with Short 3-Element 146-MHz Yagis (10-22-2003)
• Calibrating K to NEC (03-01-1996, 03-25-2006) (PDF)
• Notes on Fat-Wire Dipole Convergence (03-11-1998)
• 1 MHz Ground-Wave Analysis: A Comparison Among MININEC and NEC Modeling Implementations (02-23-2001)
• The Coaxial Folded Monopole: A Modeling Adventure (03-01-2007)
• The Tee-Match: NEC Illusions and MININEC Realities (01-07-1998)
• Three-Element Yagi Models: Standards of Comparison (06-21-1997)
• NEC-2 and NEC-4: Reading Trends with Caution (09-12-1998)
• NEC and Reciprocity (06-14-2007)
• Antenna Design (Spreadsheets) (06-26-2006. 04-04-2008)
• Antenna Matching (Spreadsheets) (06-26-2006)
• Modeling and Understanding Small Beams (07-25-1999)
• VOACAP Type-13 Files for Amateur Band Antennas (08-01-2007)

See also the Antenna Modeling series

Practical Antenna Notes: Lower HF (Mainly) Vertical Antennas

• Self-Contained Vertically Polarized Wire Antennas: A Family Album Parts 1-6 (05-15-1999, 01-14-2003, 02-05-2005)
• Voltage Feeding SCV Loops (08-14-1998, 03-24-2006)
• Triangulating Bobtail Curtains (03-24-2006)
• The 40-Meter Bobtail Curtain as An All-Band Wire Antenna (05-27-2003, 02-04-2005)
• Notes on All-Band Use of Vertical-Plane Deltas (10-13-1997)
• Verticals Without Vertigo (05-13-1999)
• Some Techniques for Building a QRP Field Vertical (05-24-2002)
• Counterpoises, Capacity Hats, and A Standard (11-01-2004)
• The 5/8-Wavelength Mystique (04-17-2001)
• Some Facts of Life About Modeling 160-Meter Vertical Arrays Parts 1-5 (08-01-2001)
• Your First 160-Meter Antenna (06-07-2005)
• Models with Buried Radials: A Small Compendium (08-31-2004)
• Pursuing the (Nearly) Perfect Parasitic Vertical Array for 160 Meters Parts 1-2 (01-01-2002)
• Half-Length 80-Meter Vertical Monopoles: the Best Method of Loading Parts 1-5 (05-12-1997)
• What Is a Folded Monopole? Skirting the Issue (12-06-2005)
• Short Folded Monopoles Parts 1-2 (01-01-2006, 04-01-2008)
• Notes on HF Discone Antennas (03-01-2008) (PDF)
• Vertical Dipoles and Ground Planes: What Antenna Modeling Reports (09-22-1998)
• A Modeling Perspective on "Ground" Planes Parts 1-5 (06-06-1997)
• The Insulated Radial Question (05-01-2003)
• Counterpoise? On the Use and Abuse of a Word (01-01-2007)
• The Pseudo-Brewster Angle Revisited (01-01-2008) (PDF)
• Where Do I Hang My Hat? (10-31-1998)
• The 40-Meter 3-Way Special (07-20-1997)
• 3 Wires = The Whole World (02-05-1999)
• A Triangle for the Short Vertical Operator (02-05-1999)
• Screening 40-Meter Vertical Arrays (10-09-2006)
• HF Vertically-Oriented Moxon Rectangles: A 40-Meter Example (12-28-2004)
• An 80-Meter LPMA: A Design Idea and a Modeling Dilemma Parts 1-2 (05-01-2002)
• The Slippery Sloper Argument (11-24-2007)

Practical Antenna Notes: Lower HF (Mainly) Horizontal Antennas

• Back to Basics: An Antenna Primer for New QRP Operators (05-19-2007) (PDF)
• Just Tall. That's All. Some Principles of Portable Antennas to Strive For (08-29-2003)
• Wi're We Using Wire? (01-19-1998)
• A Note on Wire Size and Material (08-08-1998)
• Blunting the Edge of Cutting Formulas (10-25-2004)
• 10 Frequency Asked Questions about the All-Band Doublet (6-3-2005)
• How Much Coaxial Cable? A Case Study (01-12-2008) (PDF)
• The Multi-Band Inverted-V from Many Angles (01-24-2006)
• The Zig-Zag Dipole-Doublet (01-01-2000)
• Unfolding the Story of the Folded Dipole (03-12-2000, updated 10-02-2006)
• Understanding the CCD (02-26-2006)
• Modeling the T2FD (06-07-1999, 02-17-2007)
• Notes on the Terminated Wide-Band "Folded Dipole" (06-01-2000, 07-19-2000, 02-13-2004, 10-22-2005)
• Notes on Wide-Band Multi-Wire "Folded Dipoles" Parts 1 and 2 (05-01-2007. 06-01-2007)
• The G5RV Antenna System Re-Visited Parts 1-3 (05-21-2003)
• Notes on Mr. Windom's "Ethereal Adornments" (01-05-2008) (PDF)
• The Isolated Off-Center-Fed Antenna: Some Less-Explored Facets (01-09-2008) (PDF)
• 160- vs. 80-Meter Isolated Off-Center-Fed Antennas (01-14-2008) (PDF)
• The "Ideal" Back-Up Antenna for 80-20 Meters (09-08-2005)
• Some ABCs of A-B-C: Notes on Triangles of Doublets (02-15-2003)
• Resurrecting the Y-Doublet (05-16-2003)
• Notes on All-Band Use of Horizontal-Plane Loops (10-28-1997)
• A 40-Meter Star (04-13-2003)
• Horizontally Oriented, Horizontally Polarized Large Wire Loop Antennas (03-29-1999)
• Horizontal Loops: How Big? How High? What Shape? (10-21-2004)
• Half-Wavelength Interrupted Loops: Their Evolution and Uses (03-01-2008) (PDF)
• Vertically Oriented Multi-Band Antennas (05-20-2000)
• The All-Band Center-Fed Inverted-L (03-06-1999, 06-14-1999)
• Straightening Out the Inverted-L (06-01-2005) (PDF)
• Long-Wire Antennas Parts 1-5 (09-01-2006)
• To Trap or Not to Trap (12-20-1997)
• Some Notes on Linear Resonators: Parts 1 to 3 (03-09-2006)
• Some Notes on NVIS Antennas (02-23-2008) (6 PDF items)
• Horizontal Heights and Sound Bites: A Short Note Relevant to NVIS Antennas (06-20-2005)
• NVIS and ALE: Some Preliminary Studies
• Vertically Radiating Horizontal Antennas (03-15-1997)
• The IL-ZX Antenna for 40 Meters (06-30-1997, 12-27-2001, 09-27-2003)
• A Comparison of Closed and Interrupted Loop Antennas for 40 Meters (01-15-2006)
• An 80/40 Quad Design (03-25-2006) (PDF)
• Notes on Full and Shrunken 40-Meter Quads (12-30-1997)
• Some Notes on Lower-HF Wire Beams (09-07-1997)
• Notes on a Wire Beam for 80 and 75 Meters (04-09-1997)
• A Note on Substituting Wire Elements in Lower HF Arrays (03-10-2000)
• 80-Meter Wire LPDAs (04-01-2002)
• Some Notes on Antenna Bandwidth (01-22-1997)
• 40 + 30 = 50 (Not 70) (10-23-2001)
• Half-Length Dipoles (for 40 Meters) Parts 1 to 4 (12-24-2007)
• 80-Meter Dipoles and Inverted-Vs: A Graphical Scrapbook (12-26-2007) (PDF)
• Wide-Band 40-Meter Yagis Parts 1-3 (03-01-2006, 12-31-2007)
• A 3-Element Wire Yagi Design for 10.1373 MHz (03-25-2006) (PDF)
• Short Beams and Operating Bandwidth (10-05-1997)
• My Top 5 Backyard Multi-Band Antennas (08-11-2004) (PDF)
• De-Mystifying the Modern Dipole Curtain Array (05-01-2006)

Practical Antenna Notes: Upper HF (Mainly): Yagis and Relatives

• Welcome to Yagi-World (06-19-2006) (PDF)
• Horizontal and Vertical Yagi Orientation (10-13-1998)
• Lobe Formation With Height Increases in Horizontal Antennas (04-30-1999)
• Modeling 6 Long-Boom Yagis (07-20-1998)
• What Can We Expect From a 2-Element Beam? Parts 1-5 (05-09-1997; re-written and updated 04-25-2006)
• Mastering Some Mysteries of 2-Element Beams Part 1 (05-19-2001)
• Mastering Some Mysteries of 2-Element Beams Part 2 (05-24-2002)
• 2-Element Yagis: How Short Can We Go? (03-25-2006) (PDF)
• The Monoband Log-Cell Yagi Revisited Parts 1 to 4 (07-14-2000)
• Some Aspects of Long-Boom, Monoband Log-Cell Yagi Design (03-26-2006) (PDF)
• The G4ZU Bird Yagi (04-02-1997, 03-01-2005)
• Coils, Linear Loads, and Capacity Hats: An Overview of Small Loaded Yagis (01-17-1998)
• Director/Driven Element 2-Element Yagis: Some Ideas for 12 and 17 Meters (07-25-1999)
• Using Moxon Rectangles for WARC-Band Antennas
  
  • Part 1: Some 17-12 Meter Ideas (05-01-2000, 08-04-2000)
  • Part 2: Some 30-17-12 Meter Ideas (06-01-2000, 07-04-2006)
• A Truly Portable Moxon Rectangle for Nearly No-Tool Field Assembly (02-01-2003)
• Notes on the V-Yagi (06-12-2007)
• Is the V-Yagi a 3-Element Moxon? (06-12-2007)
• The Inverted-U as a Field Yagi (06-12-2007)
• The Inverted-U Yagi on 20 Meters and an Alternative (06-12-2007)
• Modeling Yagis by Equation Parts 1-2 (12-01-2005)
• Designing Moxon Rectangles by Equation and by Model (10-01-2000)
• Moxon Rectangles (General Index with Dimension Calculator): 22 Items (02-28-2005)
• The Elusive Moxon Nest (06-01-2003)
• Moxon-Modifying the C3-Type Tri-Bander (06-01-2002)
• Stepped-Diameter Moxon Rectangles for 20 through 10 Meters (04-01-2006)
• A Tale of 4 Beams: The X, the Hex, the Square, and the Rect (09-01-2000)
• Yagi Element Diameter Differences Do Make a Difference (07-01-2000)
• Notes on Reversible Yagi Arrays (09-01-2003)
• I Want to Build a 3-Element Yagi Parts 1-4 (08-01-1999)
• Stacking Yagis 3 Items (09-17-1999)
• 1-2-3: 1 Boom, 2 Bands, 3 Elements Each (03-07-1998, 04-16-2007)
• Three Forward-Stagger 5-Band Yagis from ON4ANT (08-28-1998, 04-18-1999, 07-16-1999)
• Dream Beams 2 PDF Items (07-01-2007)

Practical Antenna Notes: Upper HF (Mainly): Other HF Arrays and Questions

• How High is My Antenna? (02-15-2006)
• Some Model Quads 10 Items (04-02-1999, 08-05-2000)
• New Quad Studies 10 Items (2000-2002)
• Notes on Designing Large 5-Band Quads (03-29-2006) (PDF)
• The Quest for the Elusive TBWB4EQ (The Tri-Band Wide-Band 4-Element Quad) (03-31-2006) (PDF)
• A Trap Small Quad for 12 and 17 Meters (09-29-1997)
• The "Quad vs. Yagi" Question (07-23-2006)
• Adjacent-Band Quad Behavior (03-01-2007)
• A 3-Band, 2-Element Spider-Supported Quad Beam (04-01-2007)
• Why Not Use a 3-Band, 3-Element Quad? (04-01-2007)
• The Birdcage Antenna (03-18-1997)
• Three Ways to Skin a Quad Loop (08-19-1999)
• Sneaking Up on 2-Element Common-Feed Quads Part 1-3 (02-01-2007)
• Notes on the Modified Half-Loop (10-01-2007) (PDF)
• Notes on Standard Design HF LPDAs Parts 1-2 (06-01-2006)
• LPDA Design and Modeling Data 6 items (10-22-1999)
• Some Notes on LPDA Stubs (08-10-2003)
• A 3.5 Octave LPDA of High Potential Performance, But an Antenna that No One Will Build (04-14-2000)
• Long-Boom LPDAs for 14-30 MHz (07-01-2001)
• 3 More 14-30 MHz LPDA Designs (07-01-2001)
• 4-30 MHz LPDA Design Concepts (03-01-2002)
• A 10-Meter LPDA Parts 1-7 (11-21-1998)
• Notes on HF General Coverage LPDAs Using 30-35' Booms (09-01-2003)
• Notes on a Long-Boom General Coverage LPDA (11-01-2003)
• Notes on the Extended Aperture Log-Periodic Array; Part 1: The Extended Element and the Standard LPDA (07-01-2007) (PDF)
• Notes on the Extended Aperture Log-Periodic Array; Part 2: The Extended Aperture LPDA (08-01-2007) (PDF)
• Appreciating Current Trends in LPDAs (09-01-2007) (PDF)
• A Tale of Three LPAs: Some Notes on Zig-Zag Log-Periodic Arrays: 1. Preliminaries and LPDAs (10-01-2007) (PDF)
• A Tale of Three LPAs: Some Notes on Zig-Zag Log-Periodic Arrays: 2. The Trapezoidal Zig-Zag LPA (11-01-2007) (PDF)
• A Tale of Three LPAs: Some Notes on Zig-Zag Log-Periodic Arrays: 3. The X or Saw Tooth Zig-Zag LPA (12-01-2007) (PDF)
• A Tale of Three LPAs: Some Notes on Zig-Zag Log-Periodic Arrays: Data Appendix (12-01-2007) (PDF)
• The V-Dipole LPDA (01-01-2008) (PDF)
• The L-Antenna (02-05-1999, 11-25-2002)
• The B-Antenna (02-05-1999)
• 17-15-12 and Simple (05-11-1999)
• A Vertical Doublet for 30-10 Meters (12-01-1999)
• Notes on Hatted Vertical Dipoles for 10 Meters (01-14-2003)
• The M3KXZ 2-Element Vertical Phased Array (06-16-2007)
• EDZ Beam Update (05-10-1997)
• Feeding the EDZ (08-27-1997)
• The Expanded Lazy-H (04-01-1999, 04-15-2003)
• Curtains for the Extended Lazy-H (04-15-2003)
• An Almost Universal HF Back-Up Antenna For the Antenna Farm That Has Everything Else (02-12-1999)
• Suppose I Could Have Only One Wire Antenna. . . (03-21-2003)
• The "Lazy-8JK" or The Collinear-Broadside-Endfire Array (11-01-2005)
• The Turnstile: An Omni-Directional Horizontally Polarized Antenna (03-06-2000)
• Don't Be Phased By Phasing (02-04-1998)
• Some Notes on Two-Element Horizontal Phased Arrays Parts 1-4 (05-10-2002)
• The HB9CV Phased Array and Gain Comparisons (09-18-1999)
• Horizontal Phased Arrays with Parasitic Directors (08-27-1998)
• Tinker Toys for Adults: Some Notes and Ideas on PVC for Antenna Applications (08-29-2000)

Practical Antenna Notes: VHF/UHF (Mainly)

• Two Three-Element Yagis for Six Meters (07-25-1997)
• Moxon Rectangles for 6 Meters (02-03-2003)
• 6-Meter B-Antennas: A Dipole and a 2-Element Beam (04-04-2007)
• Experimental Omni-Directional Antennas for 6-Meters (12-27-2001, 01-20-2006, 03-31-2006)
• Route 66: 6-Meter 6-Element OWA Yagis in 9 Versions (05-01-2005)
• The 64-(Euro-)Dollar Question (01-01-2004)
• Phased Yagis, EDZ Beams, and Landstorfer-Sacher Yagis (07-28-1999, 09-16-1999, 04-10-2000, 02-14-2004)
• The Half-Square on 2 Meters: Parts 1-3 (04-12-1999, 07-18-2002)
• Improved Antenna Performance for VHF FM: Some Basics, Some Options, Some Hurdles (04-01-2007)
• Some J-Poles That I Have Known: Parts 1-4 (01-08-2002)
• What is a Slim Jim? (11-01-2006)
• Is COCO Your Cup of Tea? (04-01-2008) (PDF)
• Modeling Biconical Antennas (02-01-2008) (PDF)
• The Moxon Rectangle on 2 Meters (10-01-1999)
• Building a 2-Meter Moxon (11-01-1999, 12-18-1999)
• Simplifying the Turnstile Moxon Rectangle Fixed-Position Satellite Antennas (10-01-2001; 06-01-2003)
• Some Notes on Turnstile Antenna Properties (03-28-2006) (PDF)
• What's Wrong With This Turnstile Stack? (05-15-2002)
• Notes on the Batwing Parts 1-3 (03-01-2004)
• Notes on the OWA Yagi (03-26-2006) (PDF)
• Expanded Coverage for the 6-Element 2-Meter OWA Yagi: 142-150 MHz (01-04-2006)
• In Pursuit of Better VHF Quad Beams: A Work in Progress (04-21-2001)
• Notes on Medium-Length 2-Meter Quads and Yagis (01-24-2003)
• Circling the Square Quad (05-01-2004)
• The Quad Beam as an Amateur Satellite Antenna (07-01-2004)
• A Collection of 220-MHz Yagi Designs: Parts 1-4 (03-29-2001)
• Multiple Reflectors for Long-Boom Yagis (10-06-2001)
• Appreciating DL6WU Wide-Band Long-Boom Yagi Design: Some Preliminary Notes (11-02-2001, 12-05-2004)
• Long-Boom Yagi Sidelobe Suppression (04-27-2002)
• Sidelobe Attenuation and Suppression: Parts 1-3 (10-20-2005)
• Preliminary Studies of Long-Boom Yagis for 420-450 MHz (04-28-2003)
• Long-Boom Trimming Yagis: An Accumulation of Data Main Text (12-10-2004) (PDF)
• Long-Boom Trimming Yagis: An Accumulation of Data Reference Graphs (12-10-2004) (PDF)
• Long-Boom Yagi Rules of Thumb: A Comparison with Modeling Data (01-01-2005) (PDF)
• 2-Meter and 70-CM Yagi Stacks: Preliminary Studies: Parts 1-4 (09-01-2005)
• A 70-CM Wide-Band, Long-Boom Yagi with High Sidelobe Suppression (07-01-2005)
• Scaling and Adjusting VHF/UHF Yagis (12-01-2002, 07-09-2004, 08-30-2007)
• An OWA Family of 2-Meter Yagis From 6 to 12 Elements : Parts 1-2 (08-02-2002)
• Extending the 2-Meter OWA Family: Parts 1-3 (10-01-2004)
• Notes on a 6-Element Wide-Band 2-Meter Yagi (12-26-2002)
• The OWA Family Moves to 220 (09-02-2002)
• Wide-Band Utility Yagis for 420-450 MHz
  • 1. 4- and 6-Element Models (08-01-2001)
  • 2. An 8-Element Model (09-01-2001)
• A 2-Meter/70-Centimeter Dual-Band Yagi for the Home Builder (08-08-2007)
• Some Basics of Very-Wide-Band Yagi Design : Parts 1-2 (10-01-2002)
• The Flat-Plane Reflector for 432 MHz (11-08-2001)
• Modeling the Double-Diamond for UHF (12-01-2001, 11-12-2002)
• A Diamond Jubilee (05-19-2007) (PDF)
• Corner Reflectors Revisited: Parts 1-3 (04-18-1999)
• The 3-D Corner Reflector (07-01-2003, 05-05-2005)
• Corner Arrays for Personal Communications (10-01-2001)
• Split or Continuous LPDAs for Personal Communications? (10-22-2002, 11-12-2007)
• Planar Reflectors: Parts 1-4 (05-01-2005)
• Corner Reflectors Revisited Again: Parts 1-5 (10-01-2005)
• Planar and Corner Reflectors Revisited (08-12-2004) (PDF)
• The Prismatic Polyhedron and the Planar and the Corner Reflector : Parts 1-2 (06-16-2007)
• Special Needs Call for Special Antennas: The X-Array (11-01-2004)
• Modeling the Dual Rhomboid: Parts 1-3 (08-16-1999)
• High-Gain, Wide-Band Yagis for 10, 6, and 2 Meters (09-01-1999)
• Quagi and Yagi on 2 Meters: Some Preliminary Notes (04-16-2001)
• A 3-Moxon Polling Array for 914 MHz (08-01-2000)
• Horizontal Polling Arrays (07-01-2006)
• A Short Note on Tilted Vertical VHF Antennas (04-01-2008) (PDF)
• The Case of the Curly Collinear (06-01-2004)
• A 100-1000 MHz "Utility" LPDA (12-01-2001)
• CAP Emergency-Beacon Direction-Finding Antennas (05-05-2003)
• Some Notes on FM BC Antennas: Parts 1-5 (04-10-2003)
• LPDAs for the 400-800-MHz Television Range: Parts 1-2 (03-20-2003)
• Notes on Axial-Mode Helical Antennas in Amateur Service : Parts 1-3 (10-20-2005)
• Notes on Fixed Satellite Antennas (05-01-2006)
• Some Overlooked Antenna Basics for DX and Off-World Communications (05-01-2006) (PDF)

Transmission Lines, Impedance Coupling, and Construction

• A GAP in Our Understanding of Feedpoints (01-16-2005)
• Notes on Home-Built Antenna Hardware (06-14-2006)
• 12 Ways to See and Love Your Feeders (05-19-1998)
• Some (Old) Notes on Home-Brew Parallel Transmission Lines (01-06-2000, 12-28-2001)
• Values Along a Transmission Line (11-25-1998, 10-16-2006)
• When is a Quarter Wavelength Not a Quarter Wavelength? (02-20-1998, 07-15-1999)
• Some Aspects of Series and Parallel Coaxial Cable Assemblies (12-26-2001)
• Stub Matching: A Review (05-01-2005) (PDF)
• Some Notes on Modeling Hybrid Transmission Line Stubs (05-01-2002)
• The Beta Match: 2 Views (02-02-2005)
• Series Matching: A Review (02-05-1999)
• Some Preliminary Notes on the Gamma Match (10-01-2006)
• Some Further Notes on the Gamma Match: What MININEC Models Report (11-01-2006)
• Voltage, Current, and Impedance Along a Transmission Line (04-01-1997)
• Transmission-Line and Tuner Calculation Aids (01-01-2005)
• An SWR-Feedline-Reactance Primer: Parts 1 - 2 (12-01-2004)
• A Common-Mode Current Picture Show (08-21-2006)
• The Impedance-Transformation Properties of Common 4:1 Balun Types Parts 1 to 4 (04-01-2008)
• Whose Afraid of a Little Matching? (04-04-1998)
• The Matching Question Redux (05-25-2007)
• Notes on a Wide-Band 50/75-Ohm Coax Feed System for Low HF Band Dipoles and Vees (11-29-1997, 06-27-2007)
• Link-Coupled Antenna Tuners (updated 05-20-1999, 12-30-2000, 03-01-2004, 09-12-2004, 08-04-2006)
• Link-Coupled Antenna Tuners: A Tutorial: Parts 1 - 5 (11-25-1997)
• Delta, ATUs, and Losses (03-28-1998)
• An LCL/LC ATU (04-01-1996)
• The Balanced-L Network (12-13-2002)
• Rotator Direction Controllers (01-21-2001)
• How Accurately Must We Aim a Beam? (01-22-2001)

Continuing Series

• Antenna Options: a series of articles appearing on an irregular basis in QEX. The basic theme of the series is that, whatever the interest in antenna design, construction, or use, the amateur always has options. The more we understand our options, the better decisions that we shall make.
• Antenna Modeling: a series of articles on antenna modeling specially prepared for antenneX. The series aim is to help antenna modelers get the most benefit and least anguish from their programs.
• An-Ten-Ten-nas: a series of articles for 10-10 News on antenna basics having special relevance to 10-meter operation.
• Antennas From the Ground Up: a series of articles on antenna basics originally created for Low Down, the journal of the Colorado QRP Club. The emphasis is largely on lower HF and wire techniques.
• Amateur Radio Continuing Education: a series of articles prepared over several years for the annual Proceedings of the ARRL National Education Workshop. The pieces range in scope from a full-scale proposal for a technical education series down to using a blackboard more effectively in the classroom. There are also links to some other educational sites.

HAMCALC

Numerous articles refer to HAMCALC, a suite of utility calculation programs developed for hams by George Murphy, VE3ERP. The information in the articles gives Murph's address for obtaining the current version on CDROM. Due to a bout of ill-health, HAMCALC is no longer available on CDROM. However, you can obtain HAMCALC from this link to the CQ Magazine site (web.archive.org) and download the current version of the suite in Zipped format. The site provides instructions for installation and use.

Links to Other Antenna Information

These links carry a lot of valuable information and ideas, ranging from antenna fundamentals to advanced topics in antenna design, modeling, feeding, and building. In addition, some provide links to other sites.

Commercial Antenna Manufacturers and Vendors: A collection of known sources, offered because these pages often contain educational as well as commercial information.

Other Amateur Radio Links: A small collection of links to organizations and linkage sites to help you find other good sources of information.

A Final Note

You will note an absence of reviews, analyses, and evaluations of commercially made antennas in the notes at this site. It would be inappropriate for me to remark on such antennas without having the antennas at hand and the appropriate range and equipment for testing them. These notes relate to antenna types and designs over which I have design control and are generally aimed to assist you to understand their operation. Even specific designs are not intended for uncritical replication, although a number of them have been successfully built and used. Still, the goal is not to produce a compendium of antennas for you to build. Rather, the object is to assist you to understand the antennas that you do build, use, or simply think about.

You may note that I do not attach my name or call to any antenna design. There are 2 main reasons for this action. First, I prefer to call antennas by their technical titles, except where there is already a traditional name that brings ready recognition of the technical features of the antenna. In a few cases, where an antenna's originator deserves recognition and a technical label might be cumbersome, I have given the antenna a name. Hence, I refer to the Moxon rectangle rather than to a 2-element, rectangular, dual-coupled, parasitic array. I claim no originality for any antenna design in these notes and have patented nothing shown in any article. Second, the aim of these notes is to assist you--in small bits--to understand the antennas involved and antennas in general. Hence, most of the designs are derivative from existing designs taken from texts and handbooks. Nothing in the collection deserves re-labeling with my name or call.

Please do not attempt to download the entire site using software designed for blind downloading. If you wish a record of the entire site, antenneX periodically produces a CDROM with the entire site on it. However, I have kept most (but, alas, not all) of the items at the site short enough to read at a single sitting. Pick something of interest, read, and digest. Then pick something else. Let your wandering interests be your guide. If you wish to read more on a subject, by all means, select a related item. Or, look in other good sources for information on the subject. This site is collection of items cast at an intermediate level. Hence, it is far from the last word on any subject, whether you think of basic theory underlying a matter or about very practical construction and operation aspects of an antenna or system.

When you begin to track the items at this site, you become a companion down the path of antenna explorations that I have followed. Be certain that you are ever alert to pathways that are a function of your own interests. This pathway is not the only one, and it is far from the perfect one. But it has been and continues to be both a good and interesting one.

It has been my high pleasure to receive e-mail and regular mail that suggests these materials are of educational and technical service to a broad spectrum of individuals, both in the United States and around the world. Numerous items have appeared in the newsletters and other publications of amateur radio groups. The formal and informal distribution of some of the material, both as written and in translation, in areas where bound publications are unavailable or prohibitively expensive suggests that the energies used to develop and place some of the notes has been productive. So much to learn and so little time to learn it, but always time to share what I have learned along the way--lest it be lost.

I also receive inquiries into available books. For a list of books that I have put together, see the book page.

-73-

LB, W4RNL

Updated 04-04-2008

Return to Home Page

Pages by The House of Two Lions