Is a wave length horizontal or vertical?

Answer 1

If you can visualize whipping a length of rope tied to a fixed spot back and forth, you can then perfectly visualize radio frequency waves. If you whip the rope up and down the wave is vertically polarized. If you whip it back and forth horizontally, it is horizontally polarized. If you use a set of "rabbit ears" (dipole) to transmit a signal and hold it so the antenna points up and down, the radiated waves will be vertically polarized. To receive vertically polarized waves best, you need to use a vertically polarized antenna. The same holds true for horizontally polarized systems. This is a very simple but applicable explanation. There are other kinds of polarization such as "circular" as used in FM broadcasting and space communications. Just remember that the transmitting antenna's design determines the polarization of a radiated wave. See the ARRL Handbook 621.384 in your library for more detail.