The author L. B. Cebik, W4RNL, concludes his publication entitled “Where do I hang my hat?” with the following words:
The original question was whether it makes a difference where along a shortened element one places a hat, so long as the hat is generally out toward the end somewhere. The answer is yes.
Legends aside, these exercises in modeling do more than set up an additional support for placing hats as far outboard as the antenna’s physical structure permit. They provide a body of data about source impedance, gain, and current magnitude along the element to clarify somewhat the overall understanding of hat properties. The project has been as much an exercise in using all of the data provided by modeling programs as it has been a demonstration of hat properties. (There is, in fact, further data available that goes beyond the scope of this particular set of notes.)
Time to go. Now where did I leave mine–hat, that is. It was hanging on the end of an antenna when I came in.
Here, in brief, are some further interesting findings from his modeling in NEC and MININEC:
→ the capacitance of so-called capacitance hats is irrelevant (contrary to many legends …)
→ the simplest and most accurate way to view a hat is as a simple mechanical extension of the main element. Depending on the hat structure, the current can split, but the sum of the individual currents in the hat segments immediately adjacent to the last main element segment corresponds to the natural continuity of the main element’s current curve
→ the symmetrical hat shape, formed by spokes and a surrounding wire, allows for a significant reduction in size for structures with a low number of spokes. This reduction can be estimated by considering that the actual end of the element is not a spoke tip, but rather a point along the surrounding wire midway between two spoke tips
→ the simplest non-symmetrical-hat antenna is the monopole antenna bent into an inverted-L shape.
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Edit 21.03.2026
As a supplement to the above topic, the relative current magnitudes at a 4-radial top hat without and with a perimeter wire are shown in an EZNEC plot in Fig. 6 of the publication
L. B. Cebik, W4RNL - Counterpoises, Capacity Hats, and …
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