Deep Dives — Technical Articles

Deep Dive

The Deep Dive section is where we go beyond quick tips and tackle the hard questions of RF engineering, antenna physics, and system design. Expect rigorous analysis, measurements, and field-tested experience—plus myth-busting when “common wisdom” doesn’t survive the math. We datestamp each entry so you always know how fresh the content is. Updates roll out continuously; check the dates below for recency.

• [2025-08-21] Why Quoting Wire Lengths in Ham Radio Is Misleading
• [2025-08-14] Open vs Closed Antennas — Resonance vs Traveling Wave
• [2025-08-08] What Common-Mode Really Means — And Why Hams Get It Wrong [NL] [FR]
• [2025-08-02] The Importance of a High-Quality Common-Mode Choke or Line Isolator
• [2025-07-29] Understanding Power Specifications: ICAS, CCS, and DIGITAL in Amateur Radio
• [2025-07-20] Minimizing RF Noise in the Radio Environment
• [2025-07-15] Optimal Common-Mode RF Current and Noise Elimination for TX antenna
• [2025-07-12] Propagation Characteristics of Ham Radio Bands (2200m-2m) Mid-Europe
• [2025-07-10] Why is Targeting Zero Reactance (X = 0) Important When Tuning a TX Antenna?
• [2025-07-02] Why You Need At Least Three Chokes in Your Antenna System
• [2025-06-28] Why Your Hexbeam Gets Louder Without a Choke (And Why That’s Bad)
• [2025-06-20] Remote Tuners: Stop Putting Them Where You Don’t Need Them
• [2025-06-11] General Antenna Tuning Advice — Where to Place the Resonance Dip?
• [2025-06-05] Tuning Your Antenna System Using Coax Cable Length
• [2025-05-30] VSWR vs dB Loss (S11 & S21): Cutting Through the Common Confusion
• [2025-05-24] Why You Need a 1:1 BALUN or UNUN on Every Antenna: The Forgotten Role of Skin Effect
• [2025-05-18] Why Your Windom Antenna Is Holding You Back — And What to Use Instead
• [2025-05-11] The 5 Silent Killers of Your Power Amplifier (and How to Avoid Them)
• [2025-05-06] The Perfect SWR of 2:1 on an Inductive Load? Or Not?
• [2025-04-29] Why the 21st Century Belongs to Active E- and H-Antennas (and the Yagi Might Be Dead)
• [2025-04-22] Yagi Antennas: Common-Mode Listening Machines
• [2025-04-12] Antenna Performance: Height, Ground Loss, and Resonance
• [2025-03-31] Understanding Optimal NVIS Receive Angles
• [2025-03-18] Why Resonant ARDF Probes Are Fundamentally Flawed
• [2025-03-06] Non-Resonant Traps in HF: A Scientific Case for Superior Performance
• [2025-02-22] Measuring Antennas with a Field Strength Meter: A Practical Guide
• [2025-02-09] Antenna Gain vs. Near-Field Measurements: Understanding the Difference
• [2025-01-28] Understanding Current Taper in Antennas
• [2025-01-14] Why Polar Plots Lie — and What Antenna Builders Should Really Focus On
• [2024-12-18] Standing Waves in an Antenna Radiator: What They Are and How They Form
• [2024-12-02] Faraday Rotation: The Invisible Force That Shapes Your HF Reception
• [2024-11-16] The Only Way to Enhance Headroom in a Wideband HF Receiver: Narrow It
• [2024-10-29] Dipoles & Doublets Above Seawater: Why Lower Heights Still Work
• [2024-10-11] Diminishing Returns: Why 500 W Is the Sweet Spot of HF Power
• [2024-09-25] Maxwell’s Equations – The RF Foundations You Forgot
• [2024-09-08] LHCP & RHCP on the Low Bands: A Field Day Advantage
• [2024-08-07] HotSPOT vs Transceiver – What’s the Difference?
• [2024-07-19] Why 6 m Works on Almost Any Antenna
• [2024-07-01] The Illusion of Resonance: When Coax Becomes the Antenna
• [2024-06-15] The Illusion of Resonance: Appearance vs. Reality
• [2024-05-28] High-Q vs Low-Q Antennas: Balancing Efficiency & Bandwidth
• [2024-05-10] Current & Voltage Distribution: Keys to Antenna Performance
• [2024-04-24] Halo and Loop Transmit Antennas on HF (80–10 m)
• [2024-04-06] Why Standard Band-Pass Filters Fail in Multi-Operator Stations
• [2024-03-20] FT8 Can Hear Them — But Can You Work Them on SSB or CW?
• [2024-03-03] Physical Length vs Electrical Length — What’s the Difference?