  At Radio Netherlands, we get several thousand questions a yearabout antennas. This brochure is designed to explode some of themyths about antennas and offer some practical advice. If you lookat books about this subject, they quite often have a huge antennaon the front cover. This leads to the general impression thata large antenna will pick up a stronger signal and therefore givebetter reception of the chosen signal. In the next few pages wehope to show that the location and orientation of the antennais much more important than the size. The claimsthat many manufacturers put in their brochures are only half thestory. In this publication we intend to examine the factors that influenceshortwave reception, address the question of whether an externalantenna will always provide better reception, discuss passiveand active antennas, look at some antenna accessories and reviewsome antenna safety tips. Two appendicies are included: a bibliographyand a list of names and addresses of publishers, vendors and manufacturers.We would like to hear of your experiences. We have used our ownto compile this document, together with a great deal of inputfrom shortwave listeners around the world. Comments? letters@rnw.nl |