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1-10 of 15 messages
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Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by KD0JHT on November 8, 2009
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I can see it gets great reviews and I'm sure every ham has a copy...but I'll tell you even though I used their manuals to pass my Tech and General exams, I came away from those books feeling like I hadn't learned much. If I get the ARRL antenna book to try to teach myself about antennas, will that happen or will I just end up frustrated and confused? Will I at least get enough good information to start experimenting? I understand that experimentation, experience, and help from an "Elmer" are all very important, but I get about 15 minutes at a time to work on setting up my rig and I'm starting to figure out that just having a license to operate doesn't make me an operator. I don't even know what questions to ask. Sorry I'm rambling but as you can tell I'm getting a little frustrated. When I head out into the back yard with a 12" masonry drill bit, 3 2x2x20's, a bunch of wire and feedline, I want to feel like I know what the heck I'm doing.
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by WB2WIK on November 8, 2009
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Yes, it's a very good book. It pays to read it from page one to the end, which will usually take weeks because it's a long book!
It's pretty well annotated also, so you can find stuff by looking in the index at the rear, and the new ARRL Antenna Book also comes with a CD-ROM that's helpful as it makes finding information even faster.
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by N3OX on November 8, 2009
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The nice thing about the ARRL antenna book is that it's got a lot of theory, a lot of forumlas for design, etc, but it's also just got some projects.
Like they'll tell you the size and spacing and materials and you can take your tools out back and build it and get it working, and in the process you can learn about why it works.
The internet has a lot of plans too, and a lot of information, but that didn't pass anyone's editorial muster, and unevenly range from total BS to great info.
I would say the ARRL Antenna Book is a much better overall learning tool than the web just because, while it's not perfect, it's mostly true and has decent designs for things inside.
"When I head out into the back yard with a 12" masonry drill bit, 3 2x2x20's, a bunch of wire and feedline, I want to feel like I know what the heck I'm doing."
I think the Antenna Book will be very good for that.
73
Dan
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by W5CPT on November 8, 2009
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I think so much of the Antenna Handbook, I buy a new one every two or three updates and sell the old one here on eHam. The software alone is worth the $. The projects in the book are great but it seems that I always want something just a little different and the CD has computer programs have all the formulas to "tweak" the dimensions to fit my particular installation. While it is still possible to build your own rig, it is highly unlikely I will ever try. However with antennas I can build antennas as good if not better than what is offered commercially and maybe something that isn't offered at all that fits the parameters of what I need/want perfectly.
Bottom Line - Buy the book
Clint - W5CPT
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by WB6BYU on November 8, 2009
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The ARRL Antenna book is one of the better books I've
found on the topic for a balance of theory and practical
construction articles. I've got three editions in my
bookshelf, spanning 30+ years, because they do change
over time.
I've probably got more antenna books that most hams do,
by Kraus, Jasik, Laport, Moxon, and others. Unless I'm
looking for a specific article, I'd probably look in the
ARRL Antenna book first. Well, except that I've nearly
memorized some of the chapters...
Remember that there are three distinct aspects to an
antenna: the theoretical design of the radiating
structure, the mechanical details of how you implement
that design, and the feed system. A half wave dipole
is still the same basic design regardless of what
frequency you build it for: it might be made from wire
strung between two trees or self-supporting tubing; it
could be fed directly with coax or 72 ohm twinlead, or
with a gamma or delta match, off center, or at one end.
It might be called different names, even, but it is
still the same basic antenna.
This is why you want to have a good understanding of
both the theory and practice of antennas and feedlines,
so you can mix and match to meet your needs. Some
antenna books are heavy on theory (and may assume a
target audience of engineers rather than beginners), and
others are simply collections of antennas that other
people have built. The Antenna Book gives a good
assortment of both, and should provide you with a good
set of starting tools to understand the various aspects
of antennas.
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by WX7G on November 8, 2009
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Highly recommended. As you read it and other antenna books you will learn more and more until it all makes sense. You have reached intellectual critical mass.
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by WB5JEO on November 8, 2009
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When it comes to theory, different people "get it" in different ways. The Antenna Book presents things in ways that have worked pretty well, but when things just don't gel, go to the Internet and poke around at that topic. Often, someone else has put it in a way that works for you. Any time a book like The Antenna Book tackles theory for technically interested readers, it's not the approach that an RF engineering university program would work up to it through. Sometimes someone may need a more basic theoretical approach in some things while doing just fine tackling other parts head-on. You'll find it lets you avoid mistakes and know what to do, and as you go along, you come to better understand what else you can do and why it works or doesn't. It's also good to explore anything that interests you elsewhere, because you get some different perspectives. Feeding a Bruce array, just to take one example. You get one primary view in the Book and some alternatives from other sources. And The Book can't be too extravagant with construction details without getting way too big or becoming a cookbook. So you get a lot of good practical ideas from the many other sources. But what The Antenna Book achieves is to be useful to the entry level ham, as well as providing enough theory to begin to understand what's happening with their first projects. It's not the only book in the antenna builder's library, but it an excellent first one and always essential.
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by KD0JHT on November 8, 2009
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Okay! Thanks all, I will be purchasing the book then.
-Tim, KD0JHT
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by K9MRD on November 9, 2009
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Also take a look at ON4UN's "Low-Band Dxing" which is also published by ARRL.
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RE: Is the ARRL antenna book recommended?
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by N4MJG on November 10, 2009
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I agree with others , buy the book it is well worth it ! you will learn alott from that book !
73
Jackie
N4MJG
WWW.N4MJG.COM
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