Also known as: polarization, polarisation

Polarization is the orientation of a radio wave’s electric field, determined by how the transmitting antenna is mounted — vertical, horizontal, or circular.¹

Polarization is the orientation of the wave's electric field; match it to the transmitter to avoid loss.

How it works

A receive antenna should match the transmitter’s polarization; a full mismatch can cost on the order of 20 dB. Most land-mobile and public-safety radio is vertically polarized, while FM broadcast is often horizontal or circular.

Relevance to SDR

A vertical antenna is the safe default for scanning land-mobile and trunked systems, matching their vertical polarization.

Sources

1. Polarization (waves) — Wikipedia, on the orientation of a wave’s electric field and polarization types. ↩

See also

• Antenna
• Dipole antenna
• Radio propagation
• Antenna gain

Learn it step by step

• Antennas 101