[Elecraft] Lines, Waves and Antennas

[Ed Lambert]

I was first licensed in 1961 while in high school. Paradoxically, amateur
radio was responsible for me going into electrical engineering  and was also
responsible for me having the greatest difficulty completing, successfully,
a course I took called "Lines, Waves, and Antennas".  The reason for my
difficulty was that much of what I "knew" about the subject from my amateur
experience and from amateur radio publications did not "square" with the
engineering literature, with the mathematics, or with the laboratory.  My
"mastery" of the subject was very hard won.

Periodically I review engineering subjects taken in college and outside my
field of practice.  This fall I have been reviewing electromagnetics just
about the time the "SWR" thread started to appear on this reflector.  As
part of that review, I picked up "Reflections - Transmission Lines and
Antennas" by Maxwell, W2DU.  Some amateur publications in the field of lines
and antennas have contained things that are just plain wrong.  This one,
however, is not in that category; it is quite good in all the areas it
covers and, unlike many engineering texts, has a strong experimental basis.
I strongly second the recommendations of W5YR, W1HUE/7 and others who have
recommended this book; it "squares" the amateur experience with engineering
theory.  Chapter 21 is, indeed, a "must read" chapter.

I started the post with the date I was licensed.  The same discussion
occurring on this thread was going on then in a different format.  I suspect
it has been going on since the beginning of amateur radio and that our
thread will neither change nor divert its inevitable infinite course.

Ed Lambert
KD3Y K2 1999