The Year Physics Refused to Bend
December 31st. Logs are closing, fireworks are loading, and somewhere a ham is still convinced that a perfect SWR curve will fix everything.
This final issue of the year is unapologetically honest. No summaries, no soft landings — just the recurring themes of 2025 laid bare: EFHW misconceptions, feedlines behaving badly, common-mode currents doing exactly what physics says they will, and the uncomfortable truth that measurement beats belief every single time.
If there’s one takeaway from this year, it’s simple: antennas didn’t change — expectations did.
SWR – An Artifact from the Stone Age of Amateur Radio
Once useful, now dangerously overinterpreted. Why SWR survived longer than its usefulness —
and what actually matters instead.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/swr-an-artifact-from-the-stone-age-of-amateur-radio
Why Back-to-Back EFHW Measurements Keep Fooling People
A perfect example of how neat lab setups can completely misrepresent real-world behavior.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/why-back-to-back-efhw-measurements-keep-fooling-people
The EFHW Shunt Capacitor – A Double-Edged Sword
It fixes one problem while hiding three others. Here’s why it keeps misleading even experienced builders.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/the-efhw-shunt-capacitor-a-double-edged-sword
LC Matching vs EFHW Shunt Capacitors – Why These Are Not the Same Thing
Superficially similar, fundamentally different. Matching theory matters more than folklore.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/lc-matching-vs-efhw-shunt-capacitors-why-these-are-not-the-same-thing
EFHW 80–10 and the Space Argument
Why “it fits” is not the same as “it works,” especially once height and current distribution enter the picture.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/efhw-80-10-and-the-space-argument
Your EFHW Isn’t Noisy — Your Feedline Is
A recurring support-ticket classic. The antenna gets blamed while the coax quietly does the damage.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/your-efhw-isn-t-noisy-your-feedline-is
Why a Low EFHW Can Look Good on SWR
Low height hides loss. Loss hides problems. SWR smiles and nods politely.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/why-a-low-efhw-can-look-good-on-swr
Low Feedpoint, Low Height? A Terminated Antenna Is the Smarter Choice
Sometimes efficiency isn’t the goal — predictability and noise control are.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/low-feedpoint-low-height-a-terminated-antenna-is-the-smarter-choice
CMC Is the Biggest Problem in Ham Radio
Not propagation. Not power. Not modulation. Just uncontrolled currents going where they shouldn’t.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/cmc-is-the-biggest-problem-in-ham-radio
Routing Coax for HF Antennas (1–30 MHz)
Routing is RF. Treating it as plumbing is how noise enters the shack.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/routing-coax-for-hf-antennas-1-30-mhz
I’m Getting Across the Pond — So Why Can’t I Hear Anything Back?
The perfect year-end reminder: transmitting is easy. Receiving is the hard part.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/i-m-getting-across-the-pond-so-why-can-t-i-hear-anything-back
The Formula
Because if you can reduce RF to one equation, you never have to measure anything again.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/the-formula
Space Compromise Works “Good Enough”
The most dangerous phrase in antenna design — especially when repeated often enough.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/space-compromise-works-good-enough
Why I Don’t Want an SDR – Ham Radio Is a Technical Dead End
Equal parts provocation and uncomfortable truth. Comments guaranteed.
🔗 https://shop.rf.guru/pages/why-i-don-t-want-an-sdr-ham-radio
Prefer to close the year listening instead of reading?
Lean back and let Mark’s calm, methodical explanations cut through many of the same myths —
this time with visuals, measurements, and zero tolerance for magical thinking.
🔗 Watch the featured videos from our collaboration
As this year closes, one thing is clear: antennas didn’t fail, ferrites didn’t lie, and physics never changed its mind — only expectations did.
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s this: measure more, assume less, and never trust a clean SWR curve without asking why.
73 and a clear noise floor for the new year,
Joeri – ON6URE
Founder – RF.Guru
https://rf.guru/