Monopole antennas consist of a single radiating element such as a metal rod, often mounted over a conducting surface, a ground plane. One side of the feedline from the receiver or transmitter is connected to the rod, and the other side to the ground plane, which may be the Earth. The most common form is the quarter-wave monopole which is one-quarter of a wavelength long and has a gain of 5.12 dBi when mounted over a ground plane. Monopoles have an omnidirectional radiation pattern, so they are used for broad coverage of an area, and have vertical polarization. The ground waves used for broadcasting at low frequencies must be vertically polarized, so large vertical monopole antennas are used for broadcasting in the MF, LF, and VLF bands. Small monopoles are used as nondirectional antennas on portable radios in the HF, VHF, and UHF bands.

Monopole antennas consist of what element?