The dipole is the most basic of antennas. A proper understanding of dipole properties and characteristics is essential to understanding many other antennas including complementary antennas such as slots. In this webinar, Steve Stearns, K6OIK, explains the basic characteristics of dipoles for transmitting and receiving. Some surprises await as we learn that a dipole’s transmit current distribution is not exactly sinusoidal, and the receive distribution is entirely different. Steve explains the physics of the much-misunderstood dipole shortening factor K. And why a dipole’s effective receiving capture area is different from its physical cross-sectional area. And that resonance is a poor indicator of match. Steve indicates which dipole properties are better determined from graphs and equations, and which other properties are better determined by numerical computation, known as modelling.