A probe configured for a guided surface wave on the surface of a lossy conducting medium, comprising: a charge terminal (T 1) elevated over the lossy conducting medium along a vertical axis z of a cylindrical coordinate system that is substantially normal to a surface of the lossy conducting medium, wherein the charge terminal (T 1) is positioned at a physical height h p over the surface of the lossy conducting medium corresponding to a magnitude of an effective height h eff of the probe; and a coupling circuit comprising a coil, the charge terminal (T 1) coupled to the coil via a first tap, the coupling circuit configured to couple an AC source (412, 912) at an operating frequency f to a second tap at a lower portion of the coil, the coupling circuit configured to provide a voltage to the charge terminal (T 1) that establishes an electric field E having an independent vertical component E z in a vertical direction z of the cylindrical coordinate system and a horizontal component E ρ in a radial direction ρ of the cylindrical coordinate system; wherein the effective height h eff of the probe is defined by h p e jφ with a phase delay Φ = β P I c and with β P = 2 π λ p = 2 π V f λ 0 being a propagation factor and I c being a physical length of the coil and wherein V f is the velocity factor on a structure, λ 0 is the wavelength at the supplied frequency and λ p is the propagation wavelength resulting from any velocity factor V f; wherein the electric field E having a wave tilt W = E ρ E Z intersects the lossy conducting medium at a tangent of a complex Brewster angle ψ i,B at a Hankel crossover distance R x extending in the radial direction ρ of the cylindrical coordinate system along the lossy conducting medium from the vertical axis; wherein θ i,B is a complex Brewster angle and the complex Brewster angle ψ i,B is given by ψ i,B = (π / 2) - θ i,B and is measured from the surface of the lossy conductive medium; wherein the complex Brewster angle θ, B is defined by tan θ i, B = ε r − j σ 2 πfε 0 with ε 0 being a permittivity of free space, ε r being a relative permittivity of the lossy conducting medium and σ being a conductivity of the lossy conducting medium; wherein the Hankel crossover distance is obtained by equating the magnitude of the close-in and far-out asymptotes of the first order Hankel function of the second kind resulting in a Hankel "crossover" or transition point at a distance of ρ = R x, wherein the wave tilt of the electric field at the Hankel crossover distance is expressed as the ratio of the electrical effective height and the Hankel crossover distance: heff Rx = tan ψ i, B = W R x; and wherein a reflection coefficient under the complex Brewster angle θ, B is 0. a charge terminal (T 1) elevated over the lossy conducting medium along a vertical axis z of a cylindrical coordinate system that is substantially normal to a surface of the lossy conducting medium, wherein the charge terminal (T 1) is positioned at a physical height h p over the surface of the lossy conducting medium corresponding to a magnitude of an effective height h eff of the probe; and a coupling circuit comprising a coil, the charge terminal (T 1) coupled to the coil via a first tap, the coupling circuit configured to couple an AC source (412, 912) at an operating frequency f to a second tap at a lower portion of the coil, the coupling circuit configured to provide a voltage to the charge terminal (T 1) that establishes an electric field E having an independent vertical component E z in a vertical direction z of the cylindrical coordinate system and a horizontal component E ρ in a radial direction ρ of the cylindrical coordinate system; wherein the effective height h eff of the probe is defined by h p e jφ with a phase delay Φ = β P I c and with β P = 2 π λ p = 2 π V f λ 0 being a propagation factor and I c being a physical length of the coil and wherein V f is the velocity factor on a structure, λ 0 is the wavelength at the supplied frequency and λ p is the propagation wavelength resulting from any velocity factor V f; wherein the electric field E having a wave tilt W = E ρ E Z intersects the lossy conducting medium at a tangent of a complex Brewster angle ψ i,B at a Hankel crossover distance R x extending in the radial direction ρ of the cylindrical coordinate system along the lossy conducting medium from the vertical axis; wherein θ i,B is a complex Brewster angle and the complex Brewster angle ψ i,B is given by ψ i,B = (π / 2) - θ i,B and is measured from the surface of the lossy conductive medium; wherein the complex Brewster angle θ, B is defined by tan θ i, B = ε r − j σ 2 πfε 0 with ε 0 being a permittivity of free space, ε r being a relative permittivity of the lossy conducting medium and σ being a conductivity of the lossy conducting medium; wherein the Hankel crossover distance is obtained by equating the magnitude of the close-in and far-out asymptotes of the first order Hankel function of the second kind resulting in a Hankel "crossover" or transition point at a distance of ρ = R x, wherein the wave tilt of the electric field at the Hankel crossover distance is expressed as the ratio of the electrical effective height and the Hankel crossover distance: heff Rx = tan ψ i, B = W R x; and wherein a reflection coefficient under the complex Brewster angle θ, B is 0.