Antenna Toolkit

Joseph Carr9780750649476, 0-7506-4947-X

Joe Carr has provided radio amateurs and short-wave listeners with the definitive design guide for sending and receiving radio signals with Antenna Toolkit 2nd edition.Together with the powerful suite of CD software, the reader will have a complete solution for constructing or using an antenna – bar the actual hardware! The software provides a simple Windows-based aid to carrying out the design calculations at the heart of successful antenna design. All the user needs to do is select the antenna type and set the frequency – a much more fun and less error prone method than using a conventional calculator to solve formulae.The new edition has been revised to include further cases of propagation, additional antennas and also two new chapters – Small Loop Antennas (a topic of considerable interest, which has been the subject of much recent debate in the amateur radio press); and Yagi Beam Antennas (widely used at HF and VHF). The CD software has also been updated.Joe Carr’s expertise in the area of antenna design is legendary. Antenna designers, whether hobbyist or technician, can be assured they need look no further than Antenna Toolkit for the complete guide to understanding the practicalities of using and designing antennas today.A complete solution for antenna design in one package.The definitive guide to antenna design for radio amateurs and short-wave listeners.

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Table of contents :
Contents……Page 5
Preface……Page 7
1 Radio signals on the move……Page 11
13 Getting a ‘good ground’……Page 0
PROPAGATION PATHS _……Page 14
GROUND WAVE PROPAGATION _……Page 15
IONOSPHERIC PROPAGATION _……Page 17
E-layer……Page 18
Ionospheric variation……Page 19
Ionospheric disturbances……Page 22
USING THE IONOSPHERE _……Page 25
SUPER-REFRACTION AND SUBREFRACTION _……Page 26
2 Antenna basics……Page 29
INVERSE SQUARE LAW _……Page 33
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE _……Page 34
DECIBELS dBr _……Page 35
ANTENNA TYPES _……Page 37
STANDING WAVE RATIO _……Page 39
Measures of SWR……Page 43
AN OLD MYTH REVIVED? _……Page 44
PATTERNS _……Page 46
SOME ANTENNA CONSTRUCTION HINTS _……Page 51
Safety first!……Page 52
Mechanical integrity……Page 53
Antenna erection methods……Page 54
3 Wire, connection, grounds, and all that……Page 59
WIRE SIZES _……Page 60
COPPER-CLAD WIRE _……Page 61
WIRE SIZE AND ANTENNA LENGTH _……Page 62
Parallel open-wire line……Page 64
Twin-lead line……Page 66
Coaxial cable……Page 67
RECEIVER _……Page 68
CONNECTING WIRES TOGETHER _……Page 71
CONNECTING WIRES TO ANTENNAS AND SUPPORTS _……Page 72
LIGHTNING ARRESTORS _……Page 75
BALUN TRANSFORMERS _……Page 76
SAFETY _……Page 77
4 Marconi and other unbalanced antennas……Page 79
ANTENNA _……Page 82
THE SWALLOW TAIL ANTENNA _……Page 83
RANDOM LENGTH MARCONI _……Page 85
THE WINDOM ANTENNA _……Page 86
QUARTER WAVELENGTH VERTICAL _……Page 88
EWE ANTENNA _……Page 91
REVERSIBLE EWE _……Page 92
DUAL EWE ANTENNA _……Page 95
5 Doublets, dipoles, and other Hertzian antennas……Page 97
HALF-WAVELENGTH DIPOLE _……Page 98
To BALUN or not to BALUN, that is theque stion……Page 101
DIPOLES _……Page 102
FOLDED DIPOLES _……Page 105
VERTICAL DIPOLE _……Page 109
DELTA-FED DIPOLE _……Page 110
BOW-TIE DIPOLE _……Page 111
DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEPP _……Page 112
MULTIBAND TUNED DOUBLETS _……Page 114
THE G5RV ANTENNA _……Page 115
PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF THE G5RV _……Page 116
BALUNS ON RECEIVER ANTENNAS? _……Page 118
THE AUSSIE BROAD-BAND HF DOUBLET FOR RECEIVERS _……Page 119
THE CAPACITOR-TUNED WIDE-BAND DIPOLE _……Page 120
THE INDUCTOR-LOADED SHORTENED DIPOLE _……Page 121
MORE MULTIBAND DIPOLES _……Page 122
MULTIBAND RESONANT ANTENNAS: MULTIBAND TUNED DOUBLET _……Page 123
THE TILTED, CENTER-FED TERMINATED, FOLDED DIPOLE _……Page 124
6 Limited space antennas……Page 128
SOME OBVIOUS SOLUTIONS _……Page 129
SOME OTHER SOLUTIONS _……Page 130
Zig-Zag Dipoles……Page 132
Shortened Hertzian Radiators……Page 134
Limited Space Radial Layout……Page 138
7 Large loop antennas……Page 139
QUAD LOOP BEAMS _……Page 143
DELTA LOOPS _……Page 145
Multiband Loop F……Page 149
Multiband Loop Y……Page 152
DOUBLEsDELTA LOOP _……Page 153
Halfswavelength loop……Page 154
Inductorsloaded smaller large loop……Page 156
Halfsdelta loop……Page 158
Twosband compact loop……Page 160
THE BIsSQUARE REALLY LARGE LOOP _……Page 161
VHFYUHF QUAD BEAM ANTENNA _……Page 162
8 Wire array antennas……Page 163
ARRAY ANTENNAS _……Page 164
TWO-ELEMENT COLLINEAR ARRAY _……Page 167
HF band lengths……Page 168
VHF/UHF band lengths……Page 169
FOUR-ELEMENT BROADSIDE ARRAY _……Page 170
THE LAZY-H ARRAY _……Page 171
CURTAIN ARRAYS _……Page 174
THE BOBTAIL CURTAIN ARRAY _……Page 178
ANTENNA _……Page 179
PHASED VERTICALS _……Page 181
W8JK ARRAY _……Page 182
STACKED COLLINEAR ARRAYS _……Page 184
LARGE REFLECTOR ARRAY ANTENNA _……Page 185
9 Small loop antennas……Page 186
TRANSFORMER LOOPS _……Page 190
TUNING SCHEMES FOR LOOP ANTENNAS _……Page 191
THE SQUARE HOBBY BOARD LOOP _……Page 194
SHIELDED LOOP ANTENNAS _……Page 196
USING A LOOP ANTENNA _……Page 201
SHARPENING THE LOOP _……Page 203
10 Yagi beam antennas……Page 205
TWO-ELEMENT YAGI ARRAY _……Page 206
Element lengths……Page 207
Element lengths……Page 208
Element lengths……Page 209
SIX-ELEMENT YAGI ANTENNA _……Page 210
IMPEDANCE MATCHING THE BEAM ANTENNA _……Page 211
11 Impedance matching……Page 213
LC MATCHING NETWORKS……Page 215
QUARTER-WAVELENGTH MATCHING SECTIONS……Page 218
MATCHING STUBS……Page 220
BALUN AND OTHER BROAD-BAND TRANSFORMERS……Page 223
COMMERCIAL ANTENNA TUNERS……Page 229
12 Simple antenna instrumentation and measurements……Page 231
RF POWER METERS AND VSWR METERS……Page 232
DIP METERS……Page 235
RF NOISE BRIDGES……Page 238
Method 2……Page 239
VSWR ANALYZERS……Page 240
DUMMYLOADS (ARTIFICIAL AERIAL)……Page 242
COAXIAL SWITCHES……Page 243
STEP ATTENUATORS……Page 245
TRADITIONAL RADIO GROUNDING SOLUTIONS……Page 248
ALTERING SOIL CONDUCTIVITY……Page 251
MULTIPLE GROUND RODS……Page 253
RADIALS AND COUNTERPOISE GROUNDS……Page 254
TUNING THE GROUND WIRE……Page 256
CONCLUSION……Page 258
Index……Page 259