[.ca] Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, 2nd Edition (ISBN 0471592684)

Average textbook, better reference:
If you are an upper-level/graduate student who doesn't like derivations (you know who you are), this book is not the greatest choice for you. The way the book is written is very dry and not conducive to staying awake. Reading this (and taking notes) at my own pace, I took three months to wade through Chapter 2! I had to mark several pages with sticky notes to remember to re-read things I didn't understand. On the other hand, this book has some nice reference information if you are doing computer simulations of antennas, and would like to double-check the results of your models. The graphs and figures were extra helpful. The index generally supports the use of this book as a reference text, although it has failed to identify some very helpful graphs. Overall, it is a decent book, and I'm glad to have a copy. I've just started reading another antennas book, Antennas For All Applications, 3rd. ed., by John Kraus and Ronald Marhefka, and I find it much easier to read. In one sentence, that book explained radiation resistance in a way that made more sense to me than all the definitions and equations in an entire section of the Balanis text. The layout on each page of the Kraus book was easy on the eyes, with the text in the standard Times New Roman and the Figure captions in an Arial type of font, which made it easier to read. If you are a student who usually ends up wasting time or dozing off when you try to read your textbook, you'll do the same with this one. If you just need to read a section or two as a reliable reference, this book is fine.

Very good book:
This is a very good book with a deep insight on almost every basic subject related to antenna design and performance. The problems are excellent but need a software update.

Too many errors in array design (tchevysheff):
I teach antenna course and have found that students get confused when problems are incorrect. At least 2 problems (6.40, 6.46) design Tchevy array with specifications that are impossible to meet. The solutionary is wrong too! The required SSL of 30dB is never attained 'cause when you verify the visible region of T(z)doesn't reach sidelobes (z<1) so don't meet for given d and N. Need to increase spacing or N. This is serious bad training for students. In addition, the author use of beta for phase-shift instead of alpha is missleading and confused with nomenclature for k = 2 pi/lambda. Other aspects are very good, but needs color and photos.

Essential Book for Radio Engineers:
This book is considered by me as one of the best references about antennas. I find it very useful whenever I need information about antennas for a work I'm doing and I think it is also useful for students studying the antenna theory as it has this special "academic flavour".

A real good book for learning antenna theory:
This is a real excellent book for learning antenna theory. I enjoy this book very very much. By now I have not found for me another book that is better than this one, refer to antenna theory.