A whip antenna is an antenna consisting of a straight flexible wire or rod. The bottom end of the whip is connected to the radio receiver or transmitter. A whip antenna is a form of monopole antenna. The antenna is designed to be flexible so that it does not break easily, and the name is derived from the whip-like motion that it exhibits when disturbed. Whip antennas for portable radios are often made of a series of interlocking telescoping metal tubes, so they can be retracted when not in use. Longer whips, made for mounting on vehicles and structures, are made of a flexible fiberglass rod around a wire core and can be up to 11 m long.
Whip antenna on portable FM radio receiver
Whip antenna on car
A rubber ducky antenna, a common type of electrically short whip, on a handheld UHF CB transceiver. With rubber sheath (left) removed.
Cellphone whip antenna with base loading coil on car
In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an electric current to the antenna's terminals, and the antenna radiates the energy from the current as electromagnetic waves. In reception, an antenna intercepts some of the power of a radio wave in order to produce an electric current at its terminals, that is applied to a receiver to be amplified. Antennas are essential components of all radio equipment.
Multiple patch (rectangular) antennas found atop a Cellular Tower
Antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
An automobile's whip antenna, a common example of an omnidirectional antenna
Half-wave dipole antenna