Portal:Electronics/Selected article/14

An antenna or aerial is an arrangement of aerial electrical conductors designed to transmit or receive radio waves which is a class of electromagnetic waves. In other words, antennas basically convert radio frequency electrical currents into electromagnetic waves and vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication, radar, and space exploration. Antennas usually work in air or outer space, but can also be operated under water or even through soil and rock at certain frequencies for short distances.

Physically, an antenna is an arrangement of conductors that generate a radiating electromagnetic field in response to an applied alternating voltage and the associated alternating electric current, or can be placed in an electromagnetic field so that the field will induce an alternating current in the antenna and a voltage between its terminals. Some antenna devices (parabola, horn antenna) just adapt the free space to another type of antenna.