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Getting Started with Ham Radio -- Get on the air now! A guide to your first Amateur Radio station.

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Antenna Ground

ARRL Technical Information Service page · TIS Menu page

Introduction

While many hams can get by with the rule of thumb that you want vertical polarization for HF DX antennas at low heights and horizontal polarization at great heights, more advanced hams can benefit from learning why this is the case.

Additional information on this subject and related topics can be found in back issues of QST and the following:

The ARRL has an extensive catalog of books and materials related to Amateur Radio.

Articles

 

Note: Some of the following articles are in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. To view and print these files, you'll need a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader program. (Version 3.0 or later required). More information here.

  • The Effects of Real Ground on Antennas -- Part 1 (910,684 bytes, PDF file) Members Only
    QST February 1984, pp. 15-18
    You've seen free-space antenna patterns, and even pattern calculations that include the effect of a theoretical, perfect ground. But what is your antenna really doing?
    Feedback (QST March 1984): (25,487 bytes, PDF file) Members Only
    Parts of Fig. 3 in this article appear with wrong captions. The plot over caption I belongs with caption K; plot K should be with caption L and plot L with caption I.
  • The Effects of Real Ground on Antennas -- Part 2 (700,360 bytes, PDF file) Members Only
    QST April 1984, pp. 34-36
  • The Effects of Real Ground on Antennas -- Part 3 (1,193,714 bytes, PDF file) Members Only
    QST June 1984, pp. 30-35
  • The Effects of Real Ground on Antennas -- Part 4 (2,036,295 bytes, PDF file) Members Only
    QST August 1984, pp. 31-35
  • The Effects of Real Ground on Antennas -- Part 5 (2,284,710 bytes, PDF file) Members Only
    QST November 1984, pp. 35-39
  • Verticals, Ground Systems and Some History (330,007 bytes, PDF file) Members Only
    QST July 2000, pp. 38-44
    The answers on what makes a vertical antenna work.

    Note:

    Contact information for suppliers mentioned in the above articles should first be confirmed using TIS Address Database Search.

    Bibliography (Members Only)

    ARRL Periodicals Index Search - This database contains the QST index from 1915 to the present and the QEX index from 1981 to the present. For QST issues from 1970 to the present, and some selected articles back to 1922 (when construction articles featuring tubes began in earnest), identifying keywords have been added to the technical articles. By entering keywords (ANTENNA) or combinations of keywords (CONSTRUCTION ANTENNA VERTICAL HF) into the Title words: field, you may create dynamic bibliographies.
    Technical article KEYWORD list. Hints for more successful searching

    Suggested keywords for more articles like the ones on this page are ANTENNA GROUND

     

    Article Reprints:

     

    You can get a photocopy of any ARRL published article for $3 ($5 for nonmembers) for each article requested. Contact the ARRL Technical Department (reprints@arrl.org ), or 1-860-594-0390, between Noon and 5PM, Tuesday through Friday, if you wish to get photocopies.

     

    This information was prepared as a membership service by the American Radio Relay League, Inc., Technical Information Service, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111 (860) 594-0214. Email: tis@arrl.org (Internet). ARRL HQ is glad to provide this information on the Web free of charge as a service to League members and affiliated clubs.

    If you have any questions concerning the reproduction or distribution of this material, please contact:

     


    • Page last modified: 12:16 PM, 26 Jan 2009 ET
    Page author: tis@arrl.org
    Copyright © 2009, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.