HISTORY

   

   The Yagi-Uda antenna was invented in 1926 by Shintaro Uda of Tohoku Imperial University, Sendai, Japan, with the collaboration of Hidetsugu Yagi, also of Tohoku Imperial University.

   Yagi published the first English-language reference on the antenna in a 1928 survey article on short wave research in Japan and it came to be associated with his name. 

   However, Yagi always acknowledged Uda's principal contribution to the design, and the proper name for the antenna is, as above, the Yagi-Uda antenna (or array).

   The Yagi was first widely used during World War II for airborne radar sets, because of its simplicity and directionality.

   The Japanese military authorities first became aware of this technology after the Battle of Singapore when they captured the notes of a British radar technician that mentioned "yagi antenna". Japanese intelligence officers did not even recognise that Yagi was a Japanese name in this context.

   Despite its being invented in Japan, many Japanese radar engineers were unaware of the design until very late in the war, due to internal fighting between the Army and Navy. A horizontally polarized array can be seen under the left leading edge of Grumman F4F, F6F, TBF Avenger carrier based Navy aircraft.

   Yagi-Uda antennas are widely used by amateur radio operators worldwide for communication on frequencies from shortwave, through VHF/UHF, and into microwave bands. Hams often homebrew this type of antenna, and have provided many technical papers and software to the engineering community.