Chapter 7

Calculating Transmission Line Lengths in Degrees

While there is no shame in acquiring Christman line lengths from an on-line calculator, its also good to know how to mathematically derive these lengths.

Calculating Christman Line Lengths—If you understand this, you don’t need to read this chapter.

Propagation, Oscillation & Wavelength

Since radio waves oscillate a certain number of “cycles” per second while traveling at the speed of light, how far does the radio wave go during the time it takes to complete one cycle? As the reader knows, the answer is one wavelength.

If we divide one cycle of oscillation into 360º, the radio signal progresses through these 360º for every cycle of its oscillation. This is similar to the seconds hand of a clock rotating 360º around its face each minute.