In article tonline, Roy
Lewallen wrote:

Then some education is in order. Electromagnetic waves are elliptically
polarized. The two extreme special cases of this are linear and circular
(with axial ratio of zero -- or infinite depending on your choice of
definition -- and one respectively). There are an infinite number of
other possible elliptical polarizations with different axial ratios.

Hello, and that's quite correct, Roy. Having read the OP's statements and
others in this thread I would like to recommend that one step back from
antennas for a moment in order to examine the generation of an ellipse
(representing the locus of points of a rotating E (or H) field. The
parametric equations take the form x(t) = A*cos(2*pi*f*t) and y(t) =
B*cos(2*pi*f*t + phi). (These equations are of the same form that
generate the familiar Lissajous patterns except that for Lissajous the x
and y values differ in frequeny.)

While polarization is a convenient concept in electromagnetic wave
propagaion there's no reason that we couldnt just treat it as the
superposition of two separate Ex (or Hx) and Ey (or Hy) waves. Of course
we have to pay attention to amplitude and phase relationships.

I think investing some time with this math (it's not all that difficult)
will provide one with insight into the concept of polarization and perhaps
head off some misconception. If anyone is interested and has Mathcad,
I've got a worksheet that allows one to vary these parameters, plots the
resulting ellipse (or circle or line) and also calculates ellipticity
(axial ratio) and eccentricity. Sincerely, and 73s from N4GGO,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail:
Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20375-5337