There is a common element to every radio system, be it transmission or reception, and that is the antenna. But even though it is an essential system component, historically it’s been the least understood, especially on the transmitting end of things. Designs sometimes seem to have bordered on luck and black magic: “Get as much wire up as high as you can and tune for maximum current!”
I once took a course on antenna theory; the instructor, a college engineering professor, remarked that many antenna designs originated from persons such as him, who then left the explanation as to how they worked to grad students for thesis projects.
Back in the good old days, when the FCC was still issuing the coveted First Class Radio Telephone licenses, the exam question set (at least as I recall after a half century or so) only included one or two antenna theory-related questions that dealt with voltage and current distribution across a dipole element.
Read more – Radio World: http://bit.ly/2fCIGzx