LEARNING CURVE

Welcome to another installment of “The Learning Curve.” Although this is the July issue, CQ editors submit articles two months prior to publication. Your editor has been busy moving from Illinois to Missouri amidst the viral outbreak. Not an easy task. Fortunately, I prepared ahead of time which made the move a bit more tolerable. Hopefully, you are healthy and faring reasonably well as America lifts the quarantine. I would like to thank all CQ’s readers for supporting our publication, and while I am at it, a big shout-out to everyone who’s emailed me with comments. Your feedback is always welcome and extremely helpful. As regular readers are aware, this column is dedicated to “newly minted” radio amateurs. By the same token, this column can also serve “seasoned” hams by offering a new perspective, or renewing interest on an interesting topic. With that in mind, let’s take another look at a topic that is sure to be near and dear to every radio amateur’s heart — the antenna.

Antennas

Any ham who is “radio-active” understands the importance of an antenna. An antenna is the device that couples a transceiver’s radio emissions through free space to another radio amateur’s antenna. No antenna, no contacts. The more efficiently our antenna radiates signals, the more success we’ll have communicating with someone beyond our own backyard.

Antenna Efficiency

Antenna efficiency is a subject worth delving into for every radio amateur. According to the website <>, antenna efficiency is defined as “a ratio of the power delivered to the antenna relative to the power radiated from the antenna. A highly