Make: Volume 78

ANTENNA SIZE AND SHAPE

Antenna lengths are generally whole-number

multiples or fractions of a target wavelength

(½λ, ¼λ, ⅛λ, 1λ, 2λ, 4λ, etc.), so they often

provides clues about the intended frequency of

operation. Long wavelengths/low frequencies

tend to use long antennas and short wavelengths/

high frequencies tend to use short antennas.

Engineers have created a wealth of tricks to allow

antennas to operate on multiple bands, but there

are almost always limits. Shortwave antennas

designed for wavelengths of tens of meters aren’t

very useful for PCS cell wavelengths in the tens of

centimeters, and vice versa.

If your initial image of ...