[Antennas] Antenna question

Sun Oct 3 22:20:40 EDT 2004

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Aycock" <baycock at direcway.com>
> 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.

My note stated clearly that the Wellbrook is a receive only antenna. In high-electrical
noise environments, such as what i have to deal with, a magnetic-component antenna
delivers less noise for far signal than an electrostatic field sensitive antenna. I was just
today looking at "Passport to World Band Radio 2003" where it has reviews that actually
compare it to other active antennas on the market, and the Wellbrook was rated highest
among active antennas. That article in the book might be worthwhile looking at for some-
one interested in getting a receive-only antenna. For me, i don't know yet if i should go for
it or for the MFJ, or both. Even on 40m here, the noise is pretty bad, so a mobile antenna
on the balcony would not be that great. On the MWBC band i can't use a wire antenna at
all, i have to use loop type antennas because of noise.
The Wellbrook is about a 1-meter dia. loop. The features are electric-field noise reduction
thru the balanced loop design, and the other feature is no-adjustments required. As i said,
it has some fairly clever electronics to compensate for the loop's varying impedance over
the wide frequency range. Yes, i miss the locations where i could put up a good wire antenna,
nothing beats that, but- in the urban environment, it's a new world, with computers, power
controllers, lamp dimmers, all kinds of spectrum pollution. On entertainment radios nowadays,
the biggest knob is the volume knob - that tells you something about 'armchair adventuring'
or seeking out other distant or obscure voices today.
-Hue Miller