Measurement of electric field distributions

The usual method of measuring electric field distributions comprises a receiving antenna at the point of observation, connected by means of a transmission line to receiving apparatus at some distant point. The principal advantage of the method described here is that it eliminates the transmission line and thus makes possible many measurements which cannot be done by the usual method. It is based on the fact that the echo from a thin straight conducting wire is proportional to the square of the component of electric field parallel to the wire. The practical application at centimeter wavelengths is described. The method has proven most valuable in a variety of problems involving flush mounted directional antennas, radomes, artificial transmission lines, etc.