[Antennas] Antenna question

Sun Oct 3 21:32:44 EDT 2004

Dave- I see also an answer from Hue- some of my comments are with reference 
to his post.
1. The "Wellbrook" write-ups were FULL of "snake oil"and misunderstandings, 
particularly about noise, the need for tuning, and such terms as 
"aperture". The Wellbrook antenna appears to be applicable only for receiving.
2. ANY antenna suitable for transmitting must be tuned to fit the 
frequencies in use. There are antennas that make use of resistors to 
broaden the bandwidth, but at the cost of low efficiency and wasted power. 
There are NO magic antennas.
3. If the write-up provided by an antenna source does not mention its 
performance as a transmitting element, it is probably because it wont work 
that way.
4. Before you get serious about getting an antenna, decide which modes and 
bands you intend to work on-Then scout the market. Avoid the SWR 
publications for a while, and get some catalogs from Bigger dealers, such 
as AES and HRO.
5. What receiving and transmitting equipment do you have, or intend to get? 
Most modern transceivers will listen very well with a simple wire tossed 
out the window; however, sending is where the selection gets trickier, and 
is why I emphasize the transmitting aspects so much.
Again- good luck.- Bill
At 06:09 PM 10/3/2004 -0400, capn2 wrote:
>Thanks Bill.....I appreciate yopur advice. I've been SWL'ing for 25 yrs or
>so, and all the transmit/receive antenna stuff in the ARRL books is getting
>somewhat confusing!

Bill Aycock - W4BSG
Woodville, Alabama