FREE!! - UNDERSTANDING ANTENNAS FOR THE NON-TECHNICAL HAM

BOOK REVIEW

UNDERSTANDING ANTENNAS FOR

THE NON-TECHNICAL HAM

by Jim Abercrombie, N4JA

FREE PDF BOOK DOWNLOAD

Today, on one of my Facebook DX groups, several members were discussing the ins and outs of wire antennas. The conversation turned towards wishing there was some sort of e-book that could be used as a resource for designing and building wire antennas for the shortwave bands. I alerted my friends to the fact that such a book already exists for FREE on the Internet! Then I realised that perhaps some others in the shortwave fraternity may also not be aware of this book's existence, although it has been around for years now!

 Written by the late Jim Abercrombie, N4JA and with illustrations by Frank Wamsley, K4EFW, Understanding Antennas for the Non-Technical Ham (July 2005, 2nd edition) is a wonderful primer for both inexperienced and new amateur radio operators as well as for shortwave listeners.

 There's a wealth of really good information in this little 74 page PDF that will provide a good grounding on how antennas work and different types of antenna systems. Jim has kept to his word by not making the text highly technical - it's readable, understandable and well organised into different sections. Along with the included clear illustrations, any amateur or SWL can build some great antennas. And while there are many references to the transmitting side of antenna design (e.g. standing wave ratios, feed-line radiation, field strengths, etc), shortwave listeners can safely ignore all that (if they choose) and simply experiment with many different antennas from a listening-only perspective.

 Here are just a few of the topics covered in this book:
  • Basic antenna theory
  • The ionosphere and modes of propagation
  • The many different types of dipole antennas including
    - Inverted Vee
    - Sloping
    - Folded
    - Double Bazooka
    - 2 and 4 element Collinears
    - 2 Band Fan Dipoles
    - Off-centre Fed
    - G5RV
  • End-Fed antennas
  • Trap antennas
  • Verticals
  • Inverted-L antennas
  • Loop antennas including horizontally and vertically oriented loops, and Delta Loops
  • Beam antennas including the Yagi and Lop-Periodic, Cubical Quad
  • Antenna masts
  • ....and much more


You won't find the in-depth technical analysis of, say, Joe Carr's Practical Antenna Handbook. But for many SWLs and Hams, so much detail can be overkill. However, after reading this e-Book you may decide to delve even further into antenna theory and design - that's your choice! As  Jim says in the book's preface:

"One reason for writing this book is to educate you so you can make an informed choice concerning the best antenna for you. Another reason is to dispel the many antenna myths that circulate in the amateur community. The third reason is a desire to teach basic antenna theory to the average ham. Therefore, to achieve that goal, you should read this book from cover to cover. It was written primarily for the newcomer and the non-technical old-timer.

 This book is about common medium wave and high frequency (short wave) antennas, but the theory presented here relates to antennas of any frequency. It is in a condensed form and the antenna theory is explained so most hams can understand it. Realising many hams are mathematically challenged, only simple mathematics procedures are used. If you can add, subtract, and divide using a calculator, you will not have trouble with this book."

This FREE PDF book can be downloaded from Hamuniverse.com, which contains a wonderful collection of resources on most aspects of the radio hobby. It also has lots of stuff on antenna building projects! Check it out! 

The link below will take you direct to the Understanding Antennas web page:


Highly recommended as a great starter book for SWLs and amateur radio operators! (Written for a North American audience, all measurements are in feet and inches. The rest of the world will need to convert to metric measurements.)

73 and good DX to you all.

 Rob Wagner VK3BVW


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