The Radio Amateur Antenna Handbook REVIEW
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- Опубликовано: 4 янв 2024
- In this video, we delve into the fascinating world of amateur radios with our comprehensive review of "The Radio Amateur Antenna Handbook" by William Orr, W6SAI and Stuart D. Cowan, W2LX. Join us as we uncover the ultimate guide to mastering antenna technologies for amateur radio enthusiasts.
Whether you're a seasoned amateur radio operator or a complete novice looking to explore this thrilling hobby, this book review will provide invaluable insights into the realm of antenna systems. "The Radio Amateur Antenna Handbook" offers an extensive collection of practical information, expert guidance, and cutting-edge techniques, making it an indispensable resource for everyone with an interest in amateur radios.
Throughout the video, we analyze the key features presented in this handbook, including detailed diagrams and real-life examples. Our goal is to help you understand the complexities of antenna design, installation, and optimization, empowering you to enhance your own communication setups and achieve maximum performance.
By watching this review, you'll gain knowledge about various antenna types, such as dipole, Yagi, loop, and vertical antennas. Furthermore, we examine crucial concepts like impedance matching, radiation patterns and signal propagation.
Join us on this exciting journey as we explore the pages of "The Radio Amateur Antenna Handbook" and uncover how it can revolutionize your radio communication experiences. Don't miss out on this opportunity to expand your knowledge and take your amateur radio skills to new heights.
Stay tuned to our channel for more insightful book reviews, helpful tutorials, and engaging discussions on everything related to amateur radio. Remember to hit the like button, subscribe, and turn on the notification bell to stay updated with our latest content.
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My favorite thing is when you get an old copy of a tech book and a new copy. The old copy will tell you about something and show you how to make it. The new copy will tell you about it and how to buy it.
AMEN
I describe it this way; the books would explain swr and swr meters and then tell you how to build one, these days they tell you about SWR and where to buy a meter!
I always am on the search for good books. Older books often contain gems.
Agreed LC, in general I am finding that I like these older books better 👍
Anything from Bill Orr is superb, and a must have for any shack. Thanks Ape.
Totally agree, thanks for checking it out Hollywood 👍
I love reference books! Antiquated test equipment aside, that book is definitely a keeper and one I plan to add to my library. Orr has several other great radio/antenna books as well.
Yeah, it’s well written so I ordered another of his books.
Great book Ape.
I recall watching that video from Dave and recall being confused when he said it worked when he removed the balun.
Thanks for watching Don!
I was gifted a military surplus Dip Meter a few years ago. It still works very well.
That’s awesome 👍
I'm glad you are doing this! Always good to find out what you don't know you don't know.
Totally agree, I have a few more I will do videos on. Thanks for watching Swimbater 👍
Great stuff. I picked up the ARRL antenna book and a few older antenna books recently. I'm sure I'll get lots of good ideas and insight from them.
Hey Mike, I really like the antenna book 👍
Gidday Ape,
I own this same book, like yours, mine was a library book as well, it was being thrown out in the late 80's.
I also own the corresponding CB antenna book, that was also being thrown out.
These books are worth their weight in gold, as they're written in a really down to earth manner.
Thanks for making and posting this video!
Hey Mike, I agree they are very well written 👍
It's a great book. Had my copy for many years and still flick through it from time to time now.
Yeah, I am pretty glad it picked it up. Thanks for checking out the video!
My local club had an antenna building class. Pretty awesome. A few Elmers there with lots of equipment. They all went on and on about this book. I found one on Amazon. Rough copy. The binding totally breaking. So I picked up an binder, drilled holes through the book and voila! it is in my reference library. Thanks!
Hey Marty, cool story!
Looks like a great book. I am a fairly new technician and I asked a question on FB about chokes and baluns when building a horizontal dipole. I got a lot of great information but one old ham who had about 25 years of experience said the he never uses baluns on dipoles. He has never had a problem with long distance or DX contacts.
It's a holy war topic for sure, thanks for watching the video!
I used this book to build quad beam antennas in the '90's!
Excellent reference! I was broadcasting with a 4watt cb radio making contacts 75mi out using just a two element quad beam.
Sadly, my copy was loaned out and never seen again!
I'm looking to get back into the hobby but def going ham and gmrs. Will def build more quad beams!
Tnx for vids and just subscribed!👍
Roger out or 73(?)😂
Hey Doug, welcome back!
Great Video I have added a whole host of these old reference books to my HAM Library. Books by Bill Orr W6SAI, Stuart Cowan, W2LX and Steve Cerwin Wa5FRF are exceptional, but I have found some old textbooks, that provide a very good background in theory and mathematics. I am also collecting older ARRL handbooks and antenna books. just great stuff to be find in these.
Hey NJ4Z. I've been picking up the old ARRL books when I see them cheap on ebay, I really like the way they older books were written. Thanks from watching!
Hey! I have had that book for years. It's pretty cool and very detailed. I like the quagi antenna
Yeah, it’s pretty good 🍻
Very true about Bill Orr...
Couple points:
Baluns in the feed point of dipole seem to have more impact on the near-field and less on the far-field plots and I think that the plots we see are representative of the near field. Most hf dipoles are essentially non-directional (less than 3db) as they are so close to the ground...
The basic computations for antennas are well rooted in physics and remain the same. Computational methods, data acquisition and analysis have improved by orders of magnitude!
Thank you for another great video and yes, I have that book. Now I will have to get up and find it😂....
73' de K4WRF
Thanks for the informative post Watt. Good luck finding that book!
Found it!@@TheSmokinApe
Thanks!
Thanks for watching 👍
The sloping dipole antennas are great. if you haven't tried one I would recommend it. you won't believe the difference from an end fed. try a 40-meter inverted V and see how many bands you get. then if there is something else you want add another element. I love mine the most of all. it is a very quiet antenna and easy to bring up the signal from noise.
OK Curt, you convinced me... I am going to try one!
👍Thank you sir.
You are welcome👍
Always good to have multiple sources but what do you think about this book as compared to rothamels antenna book?
WHile I like this book and find it informative it doesn't compare to Rothamels which is really like an encyclopedia
Thanks for the tip, I found a copy.
Nice Packrat 👍
...I ordered it before the video was over...@@TheSmokinApe
Lol
You know me I like a good antenna book, Thanks Ape!!
Howdy Chuck, thanks for watching 👍
Thanks for your practical & empirically based videos. Can't subscribe to any channels, but happy to buy you a cup of coffee or a beer from time to time. How can I do that ?
You should see the option on any video page, right below the title beside the thumbs up, dislike, and share buttons. The option says "THANKS" and shows a little heart with a money sign symbol.
Thanks for sharing this video, I wonder if this book is available somewhere online where you can read it and refer back to it without having to actually buying a copy?
I didn’t see it that way but it’s possible 👍
Thanks for the review! I see now every reseller who has this book just jacked the price up! Oh the influence of the Great Smokin' Primate! Just wondering if you also possess the ability of holding stuff with your feet - this is the coolest quality found in apes! Sure would help out when soldering and wrapping toe roids! Smoke what ya roll and toss the vaporizer son!
LOL, I can pick stuff up with my feet 👀
It is always good to find the older books, perceived wisdom changes over the years but it is good to see the historic articles. Recently I was planning to put up a doublet, avoiding it being a resonant length on any band. I had it all scribbled out on a piece of paper, including the feeder length... only to find exactly the same configuration in the 1961 ARRL handbook. Regarding the balun, I think the secret to not fitting one to a horizontal dipole is to gain some low angle radiation from the feeder. I don't know the working conditions that Dave encountered but a low horizontal dipole can be an awful antenna for DX angles, a little feeder radiation can fix that. Not an ideal situation but sometimes things are not ideal...
Hey g0fvt. I have a pretty big collection of the handbooks going back to 1941, its cool to see the changes over the years. I describe it this way; the books would explain swr and swr meters and then tell you how to build one, these days they tell you about SWR and where to buy a meter!
@@TheSmokinApe the hobby has certainly evolved, not always for the good... I have built SWR meters in the past but recently found myself buying the matching speaker for my FTDX101MP, a lot of money for a tiny loudspeaker mounted in a glorified biscuit tin. (Sounds bad too).
Before my time SWR meters were not really a thing, but of course coaxial cable and transistor PAs with fixed tuning have made it an issue. In the earlier days it was all about peaking the antenna current.
So far I have resisted lighting my shack with red and blue LEDs but you know it is going to happen! Thank you for the reply 73
lol @ LED lights. I fed my radio output into a mixer where I can EQ it to headphones, I'm not a fan of the vendor extra speakers.
Do you have the ISBN number? Makes looking up books easier.
Hey Cliff, here it is 9780933616073
Love this video and the reference to KE0OG's video which I've also seen. As soon as you started reading that balun part, I immediately thought about him.
Yeah, that story he told popped right in my mind when I read it. Thanks for watching!
That a great book. the information is still good. I have many old ARRL books. what I learned the most over the years is the same antenna ay my home will work different at your home. even mounted same way and same feed line. parks on the air shows that. my end fed half wave tunes different in different parks some times and can change at same park on different day. working with end fed antenna's lately. 5/8 and 3/4 wave. using the fold over trick to shorten and also changes the pattern. My DX commander has 3/4 wave elements for 10 and 6 meters with a fold back like the 40 meter one. 3/4 wave gets the tune and fold back changes the pattern more like a 5/8 wave. the old books show a lot of 600 ohm ladder line. today 450 ohm window line is more common. all works . 73's
Hey Robert. I do really like the older books, the way they present information is enjoyable.
You can read all of this book in the Internet Archive!
Ok
Found one!
Nice!
I have about a dozen antenna books, and most of them are over 60 years old. They are often free, and the fundamentals of antennas haven't changed at all. They can't. It is fundamental physics. About all that can change is ingenious construction with modern materials, and optimizing antenna designs for particular new applications. When I was trying to design an optimal LowFER antenna for 170 kHz I found essentially zero info in modern publications, since no one is designing new LF antennas, and very few are being built. I found a wealth of info on them, from the fundamental physics to construction tips, in the NIST reference library in Boulder, Colorado, in 100 year-old books. The info in those books was entirely accurate and helpful.
BTW, while you do mention this, you are somewhat inaccurate about the Yagi-Uda antenna's inventor. Yuda, who worked for Yagi at Tohoku Imperial University did most of the work inventing the 'Yagi-Uda' antenna. But Yagi, being the boss, and knowing English, unlike Uda, took full credit for Yuda's work, filed a patent on it with no attribution to Yuda, and popularized its use. Knowing this and acknowledging it isn't a matter of trying to show how smart or knowledgeable someone is. It's a matter of honesty, and respect for inventors. What Yagi did is more than highly frowned on in modern university culture, and should be elsewhere as well, but was a fact of life in pre-WWII Japanese culture. You wouldn't appreciate people crediting your RUclips channel to someone else, would you?
Hey John, thank you for the informative post. You make a good point about the Yagi, and the details are appreciated. I will say, being candid, most of the time when I hear people reference Mr Uda, it seems like they are the same people who who correct folks for saying “irregardless” or you’re vs your… technically they are right but it seems like a red herring to divert the topic of conversation while showing how smart they are vs paying homage to Mr Uda. Either way, thank you for the perspective. And I have really begun to appreciate the ole books, and to your point, they are practically free 👍
Picture the ideal dipole antenna system. You have a 40m dipole ~70 feet off the ground. Flat top. You have a low loss 50 ohm cable feeding it in the center. The simple dipole is around 72 ohms at resonance and the SWR is less than 1.5:1. Looking at the current and voltage on the dipole, do you see the max current in the middle (feedpoint) of the dipole and minimum current on the ends? These are standing waves. Voltage max on the ends and minimum on the ends. This dipole is radiating well because of the standing waves.
Now sum up the currents along each side of the dipole on all of the wires going to the left and all of the wires going to the right. There's one going to the left, so all of the current in that leg is common with the current in itself. A lot of common mode current because I +/-0 is i. The same goes for the wires on the right. There's only one. All common mode current. This common mode current is a GOOD THING.
Let's look at the transmission line. Max current on one side is greeted by a max current on the other side of the opposite polarity. You guessed it. Add up +i plus -i, it's about zero. No common mode current. (or next to none). It's all in the math.
If you have an antenna that is not matched very well, i.e. not matching the transmission line stated value, you will have reflected current. Reflected current in transmission lines creates standing waves. That's where transmission line standing waves come from. A mismatch at the antenna feedpoint. One way to solve the problem is to put a matching transmission line transformer at the feedpoint. But what kind of transmission line transformer do we need?
A lot of RUclipsr hams say, "Use a 1:1 ugly balun or choke". It works because there's a lot of loss involved with the coax windings or ferrite eddy currents that add up at high power but not seen much at small signal testing levels.
What you need to optimize your match is a matching transformer that matches your antenna impedance to your transmission line impedance. Every transmission line I have ever seen has some resistive value to it and no reactive value associated with it for a characteristic impedance. Most coaxes are 50 ohms resistive and 0 ohms reactive.
When we look at a Smith Chart showing a 2:1 SWR, we see a circle. Are you with me here? It's a circle that surrounds the center of the chart. Every point along that circle returns a SWR value of 2:1. Stay with me here. We know we have people saying, "You can have a resonant antenna and still have high SWR". This is true, but where is it really at along that circle? There are 2 points on a 50 ohm Smith Chart where it's resonant. They are the 2 points where the circle meets the equator line. The 2 points 90 degrees along the arc are at 50 ohms resistive and all of our problems are either inductive or capacitive.
If we have an antenna that is resonant, there will be no common mode currents because the antenna load will reflect a current in each side of the transmission line that's opposite and equal. If we have an SWR that is totally reactive, either capacitive or inductive, the antenna load will reflect a current that is 90 degrees out of phase and there will be maximum common mode current.
SWR alone will never tell us what we need to do to optimize our antenna. Is there one fix to fix the problem? Yes. A lossy balun or a lossy unun. But then we aren't optimizing our antenna. Every antenna is different. Every antenna is at different heights, has different surroundings and different needs to make optimal. A 1:1 is never the answer. Ever.
But I'm just an RFI School bus driver. What do I know?
Hey BDRFI, thank you for the information and insightful post 👍
@@TheSmokinApe are you going to get into showing the losses at power levels that we actually operate? I don't think so.
@@BusDriverRFI is this a request or are you just being pissy?
@@TheSmokinApe I've made requests before about the core saturations. When and where do these cores saturate at full use power? 100w or more is where many of us use these things, but even 20w. Where do these cores saturate? Is the input XL high enough to make the input see the transformer transformation or is it such a small enough XL that the input winding is loading the transmitter? Convey to your viewers about issues like the input XL and how core saturation can cause issues over certain power levels.
I'm not just pissing. You have a platform. Use it to give viewers a more full view of what building these projects entail and what limits may be. Why do baluns burn up? Why is there so many losses that the transmission line transformer gets hot?
Take your performances and trainings to the next level.
@@BusDriverRFI well, when you explain I know what you are talking about. Loss and saturation are different, I know you know the difference. I can see about testing that.
I just got mine in the mail today unfortunately I am in Florida at the moment
D’oh!
Enlightening. The more this novice learns, the more novice he becomes. Thanks, 73 KF0NNQ
lol, so true…