A Vertical Follows the Propagation with it's build in GPS

Ah yes, the age-old wisdom passed down through generations of keyboard warriors and armchair hams: "Vertical follows the propagation."

No need for radiation pattern plots, no need to understand Fresnel zones, or – heaven forbid – basic physics. Just throw up a vertical somewhere, anywhere really, and let the propagation do all the hard work. After all, propagation has a map and GPS. It knows exactly where your vertical is and follows it obediently like a golden retriever with a license in electromagnetic theory.

Let's be clear: propagation is not a dog. It doesn’t "follow" your vertical. It doesn’t give a damn where your antenna is. It does what it wants based on solar activity, ionospheric layers, angles of incidence, ground conditions, and the occasional cosmic whim. But please, do tell me more about how your 1.8-meter fishing rod vertical on a balcony is working the grey line to New Zealand. Must be the propagation showing loyalty.

In reality, vertical antennas are popular because they’re easy to deploy and don't require much horizontal space. They offer low take-off angles if installed properly and with a proper ground or radial system. That’s not propagation being polite – that’s physics begrudgingly cooperating because you didn’t completely mess it up.

But once we toss science into the bin, we get statements like "my vertical follows the propagation," as if the antenna sprouts legs, grabs its logbook, and starts chasing MUF (Maximum usable Frequency) around the globe.

Next time someone says it, nod politely. Then ask if their horizontal loop prefers sporadic-E or just takes whichever propagation is in fashion this season.

Remember: antennas don’t follow propagation. Good designs follow good engineering. Everything else is just a bedtime story with poor grounding.

Interested in more technical euh... satirical content like this? Subscribe to our notification list — we only send updates when new articles or blogs are published: https://listmonk.rf.guru/subscription/form

Questions or experiences to share? Feel free to contact RF.Guru or join our feedback group!

Written by Joeri Van Dooren, ON6URE – RF, electronics and software engineer, complex platform and antenna designer. Founder of RF.Guru. An expert in active and passive antennas, high-power RF transformers, and custom RF solutions, he has also engineered telecom and broadcast hardware, including set-top boxes, transcoders, and E1/T1 switchboards. His expertise spans high-power RF, embedded systems, digital signal processing, and complex software platforms, driving innovation in both amateur and professional communications industries.