You can trust the _ARRL Antenna Book_ and Walt Maxwell's
_Reflections_(*). There are many good textbooks on the topic, but most
get too involved for a beginner(**). You're wise to be leery of sources
other than the _Antenna Book_ and _Reflections_, or real textbooks. And
web pages should undergo even more critical scrutiny. I see some pretty
bad misconceptions popping up in the works of some of the most prolific
and, among the amateur community most respected, authors.

(*) No work is perfect. But I know both Walt, and Dean Straw, the
_Antenna Book_ editor, personally, and both know the topic very well. At
least as important is that both are absolutely committed to conveying
accurate information, and do their very best to verify the accuracy of
their work and correct any errors which are found.

(**) One you might consider is _Transmission Lines, Antennas, and Wave
Guides_, by King, Mimno, and Wing. It's well written, and a paperback
edition was printed which you can often find at a reasonably low price.
The paperback edition is by Dover, published in 1965.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Jaggy Taggy wrote:
Hello George, don't worry, you and the others who pointed out my
misconceptions are not offending me, they are indeed helping.

I started to read the article you recommended, or at least a version of it
available on the ARRL website.

The difficulties I encounter are partially (you mentioned it and Maxwell
mentions this problem in his 'Reflections' as well) because of the
widespread misconceptions about transmission line behavior where everybody
has an opinion, but it seems many of them are wrong. So one has to find
trustworthy sources.

Also, and maybe you know of a source for this, as I gain theoretical
insights I like to strengthen my understanding through measurements and
experiments, a "lab companion book" would be great.

Other than that I will shut up for a while and read.

Best regards from Maine

Uwe
KB1JOW