Antenna Physics: An Introduction Paperback – May 13, 2016

Excellent book if you want/need to understand how ham radio antennas work but it's not a simple read. I am enjoying it but I am a tech nerd that worked in IT for 45 years and work part-time at a ham radio store. Lots of math involved but if you want to really understand how antennas work with amateur radio, this is the book.

I enjoyed reading this book, and I learned many things. There's just enough math to be useful, and a number of interesting side trips. You do probably need to have a basic understanding of electronics and radio, for it to make sense...Recommended!Paul -- AI7JR

Kindle, especially on windows handles the formulas badly. I ordered the paper book for this reason and will give that five stars. In over 40 years of interest, I've never seen a text this good on the subject. It is "Introductory" once one understands just how far the topic goes. Other books that could be considered introductory, leave out the science and math or use analogy that can be misleading. Either that or they are simply cook books for various types of antennas. This one explains the physics from fundamentals and does it better than any other. However, it is by no means light reading. The book is written so that one can gloss over the math and understand the overall ideas. This is what makes it really introductory. The book derives practical equations from James Clerk Maxwell's calculus but one can just use the practical equations without diving deep into Maxwell. So it is introductory relative to the overall subject of electromagnetism from electrical circuits, but that may be more than some are ready for. Just give it a go. Even if you don't master it, you will learn a lot.

For Ham Radio operators, this is well written; but know it has math. I have had to dust off my rusty math skills with the Handbook. Never-the-less, a valuable addition to my library. I recommend it.

Well written survey of an important topic for radio operators. The comments on small fonts in the formulas are interesting, but overwrought. They're legible on my Fire and my iPad. I wish they were a little bigger, but they're not crucial to understanding the text. In an age where you can go to a store and buy plug-and-play equipment and get on the air with little understanding, it's like buying a TV. But unlike TV where we get content produced by professionals, most of the content on ham bands is notably unprofessional. That's why we're called amateurs. So the attraction should be more on the technology than the content. FCC expects us to be somewhat knowledgeable, requiring proof on the license exams. That knowledge increases the satisfaction with this pastime, and this book increases that knowledge. 73

I have several very thorough books and resources that explain antenna theory, but even the best of them are missing the mark by writing in a style that's sometimes hard for the layman to comprehend. This book has a lot of science in it, but is very easy to "get" and also goes into the math some, if that's what you like. It doesn't have "projects", but will give you a solid understanding and practical design info if you really want to understand how antennas actually do what they do!

Had a lot of problems getting the Kindle app to display this book correctly. After an hour of lost time, I removed it from my device and then downloaded it again. Seems to be working now. Will write a better review of the content in a few days.

How antennas work. This is an in depth explanation of the physics of how antennas do what they do. The information in this book goes beyond the normal impedance matching/SWR measurements/antenna modelling that we normally contend with and is well written and understandable. It is the book for the inner ham geek in all of us.