Reflections I and II
Worldradio Books
Walter Maxwell W2DU
2001 and later
What Terman's classic work "Radio Engineering" is to radio technology, so Maxwell's "Reflections" series (I, II and soon III) is to antenna and feedline theory. Written in a format which takes the reader from the most basic concepts of SWR, and impedance matching, to the often misunderstood theory of conjugate matching, this is "THE" antenna book.
First licensed as W8KHK in 1933, and continuously since, Maxwell has a passion for educating other amateurs in antenna theory and design. His books have now become classics, and his website, listed below, has plenty of information for the inquiring radio amateur. An accomplished musician, Maxwell has also enjoyed a most distinguished career, in commercial broadcasting, at the FCC building antenna farms for monitoring stations in the 1940s, and then at RCA Space Systems where he worked until his retirement in 1980. At RCA Walt worked with and had a hand in the design of the early satellite antenna and data systems, and even the communication system later used on the Apollo "moon buggy". Yet, despite the impressive resume, I find Maxwell writes in a most unpretentious manner, is slow and patient to explain concepts, and always supports his work with both empirical results and mathematical proofs.
Still an active ham from his home in Florida, Walt is an ARRL Technical Adviser (TA) in the specialty field of antennas and transmission lines.
I should mention that some of his work, particularly conjugate matching, has not been received without controversy. There was a time when the ARRL removed some of Maxwell's work on this topic from its publications, but I believe that has since been resolved. Walt has several published rebuttals on the matter, which can be viewed from the link below. In closing, I highly recommend his works, and find myself referring to them again and again as my knowledge and understanding grows.
Reflections website ->
http://w2du.com/Reflections Book