NFARL eNEWS | October 2023
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L. B. Cebik, W4RNL (sk)
L. B. Cebik was (and is) a widely recognized authority on antennas. His
antenna essays are a treasure trove of information for all to enjoy.
Sadly, he passed away in 2008 at the age of 68. If you are not familiar
with his extensive writings you are in for a treat as you discover them.
As I try to do in this column, Cebik’s articles addressed practical ideas
for ham antennas while avoiding advanced math wherever possible.
Mostly an “internet writer” in his later years, Cebik was a long-standing
contributor to every ham publication that’s existed over the past few
decades.
Cebik contributed articles to QST, CQ, NCJ, QEX, Ham Radio Magazine,
73 Magazine, Communications Quarterly, AntennaX (he was the editor
for years), a number of QRP publications and more. He was also a
technical advisor to the ARRL on the subjects of antennas and model-
ing. His eulogy can be found at http://www.arrl.org/news/antenna-
expert-l-b-cebik-w4rnl-sk. If you follow the ARRL closely you know ARRL eulogies are rare. They are reserved for those few who have made important contributions to the advancement of the hob-by.
Cebik’s articles have been compiled by Marcel De Canck, ON5AU, and are available on the web.
They can be found at: http://on5au.be/Cebik%20documents.html. We owe Marcel our gratitude.
Cebik placed his articles “free for the taking” on the internet as he wrote them. They were posted
on his personal website. Immediately after Cebik’s passing however, his articles went behind a pay
wall. It is said this was
not consistent with Cebik’s philosophy and was a disservice to him and the
ham community he so freely contributed to for many years. That has now been rectified.
In addition to ON5AU’s web pages, the entire collection has been posted as one large PDF by
OK1RR. It can be found here:
https://ok1rr.com/dwnld/W4RNL.pdf
The PDF contains 307 articles. It is 8847 pages! By comparison, my book
Ham Radio Tips and
Tales is 204 pages. I estimate my book is a good 10-15 hour read. How long does it take to read
8847 pages? I suggest you read Cebik’s treatment of whatever antenna(s) you might be interested
in, rather than trying to read it all.
Included in the 307 articles are:
 Sixty-two articles from QST, QEX and NCJ
 Two articles from CQ
 Three articles from Ham Radio Magazine
 Seven articles from 73 Magazine
 Twenty-five articles from QRP Quarterly
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There are also hundreds of EZNEC antenna models and 61 categories of VOACAP antenna mod-
els for use in propagation prediction.
You might wonder how 307 articles could occupy 8847 pages? Many of the articles are compen-
diums. Many included trade-offs between similar antennas. Many cover families of antennas, such
as yagis and loops.
All of Cebik’s writings have practical application. You can build an antenna using any of them.
Cebik organized his writing into the following categories:
 A Little History, a Little Humor and a Little Seriousness
 Antenna Modeling Software Notes
 Practical Antenna Notes: Lower HF (Mainly) Vertical Antennas
 Practical Antenna Notes: Lower HF (Mainly) Horizontal Antennas
 Practical Antenna Notes: Upper HF (Mainly): Yagis and Relatives
 Practical Antenna Notes: Upper HF (Mainly): Other HF Arrays and Questions
 Practical Wire Antennas: VHF/UHF (Mainly)
 Transmission Lines, Impedance Coupling and Construction
There are several subjects Cebik returned to many times. These included SCVs (self contained
verticals), Moxon Antennas and modeling. Most of Cebik’s writing was explanatory and consistent
with his life-long enthusiasm for continuing education, but in those three subject-areas he advanced
the state-of-the-art.
Here is a little on each:
SCVs (Self Contained verticals) I t’s easy to be dismissive of vertical antennas for HF. When
we hear “vertical” we think “radials” and “radiates equally poorly in all directions.” If you think that
way, you need to read Cebik’s essays on SCVs. By definition, SCVs don’t use radials and many of
the configurations have significant gain. SCVs are vertically polarized (without radials) and in many
cases are impervious to the ground. They are often modeled in free space since ground characteris-
tics barely matter. SCVs include delta loops, square loops, half-squares, etc.
Cebik begins his treatment by presenting the SCV “family tree” and goes on to trade-off each
SCV against the others. I’ve used a lot of low-band HF delta loops over the years, relying on Cebik’s
insights. On lower HF, e.g., 80 and 160 meters, vertical polarization yields low take-off angles –
great for DXing. To attain that without radials seemed like the Holy Grail when I first discovered it.
High-performance radial fields for 80 and 160 can be real monsters and they are susceptible to
ground conditions (which you can’t do anything about).
The Moxon Antenna Les M ox on, G6AN (sk) invented the M ox on antenna around
1999. “Around” because similar antenna concepts can be found all the way back to the 1930s. In
1999 Moxon published his specific design. Cebik took note and began writing about Moxons in
2000. A two-element Moxon can have as much as 10 dBi forward gain and over 15 dBi front-to-
back - far exceeding the performance of a 2-element Yagi. Yet, a Moxon is smaller than a conven-
tional two-element Yagi. Cebik wrote extensively about the antenna. From the Wikipedia entry on
the Moxon Antenna: “L. B. Cebik (W4RNL) made detailed comparisons and calculations of several
different versions of Moxon Antennas.” Les Moxon invented the Moxon Antenna, but L. B. Cebik ex-
plained and refined it and in so doing popularized it.
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Modeling Som e of Cebik ’s earliest articles concerned modeling. All of his articles presented
‘as-modeled’ performance of the antenna(s) under discussion. Antenna modeling has gone through
many iterations over decades, but modern computers and introduction of the Numerical Electromag-
netics Code (NEC) finally enabled what is now the ubiquitous antenna modeling program: EZNEC.
EZNEC was release by Roy Lewallen, W7EZ, in 1995. Cebik’s performance analyses, based on EZ-
NEC, began in 1997.
Shown is a picture of Cebik and Dave Sumner, K1ZZ,
taken at ARRL HQ. It was on the occasion of Cebik visit-
ing to assist the ARRL in developing course material on
antenna modeling. The visit predates Sumner becoming
ARRL CEO (2001).
At this point I hope I’ve convinced you that Cebik was
a prolific writer. He was – but there is more – there are
his books! In addition to his ham radio activities, Cebik
had a “daytime job.” He had a PhD in Philosophy and
when he passed away he was Professor Emeritus of Phi-
losophy at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. His
books cover ham radio and philosophy.
Ham Radio Books by L. B. Cebik:
ARRL Antenna Modeling Course
Antennas from the Ground Up
Setting up and Using Your Own Ham Shack
Seven Steps to Designing your Own Ham Equipment
Philosophy Books by L. B. Cebik:
Concepts, Events and History
Advances in Bioethics: Violence, Neglect, and the Elderly
1997 to 2008
Fictional narrative and truth
Nonaesthetic Issues in the Philosophy of Art: Art as a Social Realm
Anytime you contemplate erecting a new antenna or modifying an existing one, it will be worth
your while to read the relevant Cebik article(s). They cover VLF to UHF. They cover wire antennas,
yagis, quads, phased arrays, etc. Are you musing over how to get a good 160 transmit antenna on
your small lot? Cebik has a design for you.
On a personal note – I put several of Cebik’s articles to use at N4GG. In his article:
The “Ideal”
Back-up Antenna for 80-20 meters he suggested the answer to the question: If I could only have
one antenna, what would it be? His answer: An 88 foot doublet. An 88 foot doublet is short but
not too short for 80, a little long for 40 and 30 and approximates an EDZ (extended double zepp) on
20. An 88 foot doublet became the kernel for an antenna I designed – one that became my best
antenna for many years. It was a bottom fed EDZ stack on 20 meters (an EDZ Lazy-H) and a two-
doublet stack fed in quadrature on 40. All of it was fed against radials as a Marconi on 160. It was
a great antenna. That antenna will be the subject of a future column.
73,
Hal N4GG
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