We Are Probably Choosing Our Antennas Backwards - losing our wealth & Watts as a result

Comments · 29

• G3

  @G3LRC · 1 month ago · pinned

  📊 FREE ANTENNA INFOGRAPHICS<br>Download the graphics from the GitHub collection here:<br><a href="https://github.com/G3LRC/Antenna-Buying-Decisions">https://github.com/G3LRC/Antenna-Buying-Decisions</a>

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• JO

  @johnwest7993 · 1 month ago (edited)

  I go to the antenna books. Physicists and RF engineers have had a good handle on most useful antenna designs for 100 years, with just a few real specialized designs like the Yagi-Uda and end-fired helicals being added to the basic wire designs. Once you&apos;ve got the antenna site and type of communications application, local, DX, EME, etc,) selected, just go to the books and the rest just follows, and it gives you the opportunity to say &quot;what if&apos; and experiment, which is where the fun is.<br><br>Be advised, I asked an AI a few things about longwave antennas, a subject I&apos;m well versed in, and some of the responses were simply wrong, stupidly wrong. Also, the cost of an antenna isn&apos;t a function of its performance. The cost is a function of the name on the label, so I build my antennas without a label. I don&apos;t think the electrons and photons can read labels, anyway.

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• AI

  @AirborneEclipse · 1 month ago

  I got started with QRP back in the 90’s over the ex becoming unbearably toxic 😂 I started making kit radios and would tell her the fan dipole or roof mounted MFJ multiband vertical needed adjustments and go up my ladder to the blissful peace of life on the roof in any weather 😂 Leaning back against the chimney sitting on a stadium cushion in whatever weather gear best with a thermos of coffee and my little Palm keyer was bliss. I could still feel her radiation but it became a weak signal down in the noise floor 😎😁

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• FI

  @Fillibrator · 1 month ago

  Crikey, Dave! You’ve detonated our brains with such wide ranging thoughts, it will take weeks to fully digest this one (at least for my 8088 processor)😬<br>This ‘hobby’ is one of the most nebulous subjects, never ending rabbit holes that somehow intersect under the construct of communication. For me, reliable, repeatable communication is the heart of it but I get joy from tinkering in the shop and have piles of tubing, cable, connectors and widgets left over from ‘testing’ various antennas. It’s easy to get distracted when I enter the shop or the shack, trying to stay on track is a priority and simplification of the whole system is a goal. I don’t think I am winning. <br>Now you’ve gone and put out a new template to view through that breaks down how to approach things, maybe simplifying but also causing more self reflection and doubt. Oh well, I think I’ll go out and see how the grayline looks.

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• SA

  @samcollins6394 · 1 month ago

  Domestic avoidance cost...😂😂.. im so guilty of trying to get as much of that as possible.

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• JO

  @johnnorth9355 · 1 month ago

  I had an old 20m hamstick stuck in my garage unused. As the shack was unbearably hot I retrieved it , put it on a magmount which I stuck on a metal garden table as a groundplane. Just about managed to get it tuned in at 1: 1.3 in the voice band and the receive was amazing. No contacts made because I was using a Black Brick QMX QRP rig giving just 4 watts on internal battery so I could stay in the shade . Next time I set up I will use my G90 at a mighty 20 watts in hopefully cooler weather. 73 M7BLC

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• BO

  @bob-N4REE · 1 month ago (edited)

  THANKS Dave for interesting ways to do the math. &nbsp;Here, in our lovely HOA, there is one &quot;approved&quot; stealth antenna that probably checks in at (approximately) &nbsp; 22.315% efficient. &nbsp;So, all we need is megawatt transmitters. &nbsp;Thanks for clearing that up. &nbsp;;-} &nbsp;FABULOUS Charts btw.

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• TH

  @TheDamned67 · 1 month ago

  Thank you for the continued information on all things amateur radio. I&apos;ve learned so much and my mind has been opened to so many different and important views. <br><br>When does the Happy Hereitics Radio Squad patches and merch come out 😂?? I&apos;m here for that!<br><br>73 de W0ADE

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• DO

  @donthateme1210 · 1 month ago

  Top video Dave and thanks for saving our wallets. Love all the cost efficiency calcs.. number background poking through, I suppose! Appreciate the genuinely useful content. One question, have you got AI editing your videos or are you doing them yourself? There was one spot in this one where your voiceover and field (car) recording were overlapping.

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• WI

  @wilfredswinkels · 1 month ago

  I didn&apos;t know you hated Callum so much.🤣

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• BL

  @Bloke-in-Stoke · 1 month ago (edited)

  Iffy audio edit at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3tkSWM-8FU&amp;t=234">3:54</a> Dave. Are you getting it or is it just me?

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• W8

  @w8lvradio · 1 month ago (edited)

  Thanks for making these videos, because you are absolutely correct and spot on! Here I have a Terlin (Australia) outbacker tapped vertical on a tripod. It&apos;s been through about 30 Ohio winters now, I really should replace it, the epoxy molecules are mostly gone and I can actually see some of the windings!😂 I&apos;d guess it&apos;s about two meters tall. With 30 watts SSB, I worked a station in New Zealand (ZL1LDP) from here on central Ohio several days ago at about 3:30 AM my time. That&apos;s not a boast, nor a recommendation for consistent QSO&apos;s. Instead, I&apos;m hoping that some new ham will see this post and ignore the glossy centerfolds of towers. Because you can do a lot more with a small antenna than you think. And wire? Well it&apos;s very cheap as well. You&apos;ll make contacts and you won&apos;t have a tower to maintain. If it comes down which is probably never will you can always put another one up in about 15 minutes. Put up a cheap antenna and ignore the propagation reports, and just get on the air. Hey you might even want to buy a tower later who knows but just get on the air and enjoy yourself! And don&apos;t be afraid to not just try the low bands at night because 20M can stay open for a long time! You don&apos;t need a linear either. Low power works.. medium power works. Low power is also easy on your finals. Instead of buying a linear, use lower power and presto your existing 100 Watt rig becomes your &quot;Linear Amp.&quot; Because it&apos;s all about perspective. 73 DE W8LV Bill (and in SANER times: W8LV/VE3 🇺🇸🇨🇦🗽🍁

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