[Elecraft] 43' Vertical and the K2 tuner

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Where Gotham stumbled badly was in promoting the fiction that radials
weren't required on an (electrically) short vertical. To quote from Gotham's
January 1959 QST ad: "Are radials needed with a Gotham vertical? Answer: No,
except in a few rare occasions. 99% of the installations are done without
radials." 

That ad is disingenuous at best. Notice that the example given does not
prove radials are not needed. It only claims that few people used them, and
it fails to mention those who used them without radials, especially on the
lower frequency bands, got the results anyone familiar with antenna theory
would expect. The word "abysmal" comes to mind. 

Remember that back then it was still widely believed that a ground rod was a
"good" RF ground, especially if one surrounded it with a trench filled with
rock salt to make the earth more "conductive". 

Gotham stepped farther "over the edge" in other ads, such as their December
1959 QST ad in which they trump the success of K6INI who reportedly worked
DXCC using a Gotham V80 running 65 watts input (40 to 50 watts output) CW
with 589/599 reports from every continent. The side panel clearly says with
a big bullet "No radials required". What they did not say was what bands
K6INI made these contacts on or whether he had radials on his antenna. 

A 16 foot radiator isn't a terrible radiator on 20, 15 or 10 meters even
with a poor ground. It was certainly better than a mobile whip on a car
which many Hams were using to work DX in those days in the midst of the
world's biggest sunspot cycle.

Clearly, many Novices took Gotham at their implied word and attempted to use
the V80 on 80 and 40 meters without radials, which was a disaster. 

There is a lesson in all of this: basic antenna theory has not changed since
"radio" was invented. There have been no scientific breakthroughs in
antennas since Hertz demonstrated a half-wave loop or Marconi figured out
how to achieve "synchronicity" (resonance) with an electrically short
antenna. All the work since has been applying different ways to achieve the
best results, but always following the same basic rules. 

The "ghost of Gotham" lives in any manufacturer claiming a "scientific
breakthrough" or "magic" from a small antenna. 

Ron AC7AC


-----Original Message-----
Steve and All,

Well, not exactly!  You remember those Gothams huh!  I had 
one of them.  Back in 1956 I bought a Gotham V80 when we 
first moved to New Mexico--no trees there like I had in 
Oregon!  All the V80 consisted of was a long piece of 
aluminum and a loading coil!  I don't remember how tall it 
was, but it may well have been something like 22 feet.  It 
was base loaded, and not all that easy to use multi-band, 
particularly if you had it on the roof!  It wasn't hard to 
make the decision to use it as a monoband vertical, and mine 
became a 20 meter vertical.  I don't remember for sure, but 
I think the coil became superfluous!  If I'd been smarter, I 
would have set it up like Jim Duffey suggested, although I 
don't remember anyone selling remote tuners back then.

Dave W7AQK