Jim Kelley wrote:

Bart Rowlett wrote:
I don't understand what the term 'E-field voltage drop' could mean.
Same with 'H-field current drop'.

I think I understand what you both are saying. In the case of a
standing wave, the 'current drop' Cecil refers to (as I understand it)
is simply the current differential between two positions
Iz2 - Iz1, where I(z)=Imax(cos(wt + phi(z)), the amplitude of the
standing wave current as a function of position z.

Here's more what I had in mind. In a source/transmission line/
load configuration, where the loss in the transmission line is 3dB,
the load voltage and load current decrease by the same percentage.
Saying that the voltage wave dropped but the current wave didn't
drop seems a little strange to me. Also, saying the current wave
flowed but the voltage wave didn't, seems a little strange.

The signal attenuated by the transmission line has the identical
equations for voltage and current except for the 'Z0' constant. Does
that Z0 term have the power to cause the current wave to flow and
the voltage wave not to flow? Does the current wave leave the
voltage wave behind in the transmission line dust? Since RF waves
always move at the speed of light, exactly where does the voltage
wave reside when it is not moving at the speed of light and how does
it magically arrive at the load at the same time as the current wave
if it doesn't flow at the speed of light along with the current wave?
(For the humor impaired, this is pure unadulterated humor.)

Doesn't "drop" and "decrease" mean the same thing? Webster's says
they are synonyms. How can a voltage wave drop in magnitude but a
current wave cannot drop in magnitude even if it is defined as
having a constant relationship (Z0) to the voltage wave?

Doesn't "flow" and "travel" mean the same thing? How does the
voltage traveling wave get to the load without flowing? Seems if
the voltage traveling wave didn't flow along with the current
traveling wave, it would never get to the load. But, they tell me
that logic doesn't matter anymore and quantum physics rules. There's
no such thing as reflected energy anymore and only a mush of energy
ever exists. Never mind the ghosting on your TV. That is all in your
mind. Oh yeah, ghosting TV's never reach steady-state. Never mind that
radar couldn't work without reflected energy. Oh yeah, radar never
achieves steady-state. Now I understand completely!

In the classical electromagnetic model, E & H are completely
separable.

I got to wondering exactly how Bart goes about separating the E-
field from H-field in the light from the Sun before it gets to
Earth. :-) But I'm only a lowly grasshopper, trying to grok the
deep thoughts of the gurus. (As always, in good humor)
--
73, Cecil, W5DXP