Art, KB9MZ wrote:
"The dipole is a very inefficient radiator."

Kraus, unfortunately, wasn`t one of my books until recently. I don`t
have the words memorized or know where they appear as I do with some of
Terman.

I seem to remember Kraus saying 95% efficiency was not unusual as a
dipole efficiency. As there are so many variations, it`s like a baseball
statistic, there must be a statistic that fits somewhere.

In any case, "efficient" is only as compared with similar devices.
Recall that dBd is the norm as an isotropic antenna is only a
theoretical creature. Catalogs are filled with antenna characteristics
as compared with a 1/2-wave dipole in free space. It is the standard of
comparison. It could hardly be correctly called inefficient.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI