[Elecraft] Less Than Perfect Antennas [was Flumoxed]

[Jim Brown]

On 12/6/2018 5:56 AM, ANDY DURBIN wrote:
> Yes, I make this point to anyone interested in getting started on HF.   I worked my first 50 or so countries with 100 W and a 20 m dipole at 20 ft agl in my attic.

Anyone who has seriously contested and analyzed their results will tell 
you that 2dB can be the difference between making a QSO over a difficult 
path or not. Some antennas are more efficient, or have better patterns 
than others. High antennas radiate better than low ones. Big coax burns 
less power than small coax. Some antenna tuners burn more power than 
others.

I've worked 175 countries in about five years running 5W into very good 
antennas. I wouldn't have done nearly as well loading a mediocre 
antenna. Years ago, AC0C built a complex antenna system in his attic. 
He's since bought property in the country and built a much better 
antenna farm. When I got back on the air in 2003, it was with a dipole 
running through my loft to my garage roof.

K6DGW's current HF antenna is a wire running along the top of a 6 ft 
high wood fence that encloses the small backyard of his condo. Fred 
drives it with a barefoot K3, and manages to make enough QSOs in 
contests to have fun. Many years ago, N6BT wrote up his demonstration of 
working all continents using a light bulb as an antenna. The article was 
titled "Everything 'Works.'"

73, Jim K9YC