Book excerpt: THE DEFINITIVE ANTENNA REFERENCE--FULLY REVISED AND EXPANDED! Design and build your own antennas with the help of this unique guide. Updated and revised to provide clear answers to questions frequently asked by hobbyists and electronics technicians, Practical Antenna Handbook, Fifth Edition blends theoretical concepts with hands-on experience--requiring only high school mathematics Reorganized to flow logically from broad physical principles to specific antenna design and construction techniques, the book begins by covering the fundamentals. Then the half-wave dipole is discussed both as an excellent antenna in its own right and as a conceptual tool for predicting the performance of other designs. Transmission line impedance matching techniques--and a companion Smith chart tutorial--lead into "must have" accessories for tuning, monitoring, and troubleshooting antenna system performance. Other tools, such as antenna modeling software and network analyzer add-ons for PCs and Macs, are addressed, and concluding chapters offer fresh insights into support structures and installation techniques. NEW TOPICS COVERED INCLUDE: Characteristics of all-driven and parasitic arrays Beverages and small MF/HF receiving loops Top-loaded shunt-fed towers and other verticals Theory and design of Yagi beams Effect of real ground on propagation and antenna patterns, impedance, and efficiency Lightning protection and four kinds of ground systems Zoning and restrictive covenants COVERS A WIDE VARIETY OF ANTENNAS: Dipoles and inverted-Vs Quads, delta, and NVIS loops Wire arrays (bobtail curtain, half-square, rhombic) Verticals and shunt-fed towers Rotatable Yagi beams MF/HF receiving antennas (flag, pennant, K9AY, Beverage) Mobile and portable antennas VHF/UHF/microwave antennas And many more GO TO WWW.MHPROFESSIONAL.COM/CARR5 FOR: * Tables of worldwide geographic coordinates and antenna dimensions vs. frequency * Supplier updates * Author's blog * Additional photographs and schematics * Links to tutorials and specialized calculators