[Elecraft] Center-fed antennas

[Don Wilhelm]

All this talk of multi-band antennas for Field Day ignores the problem 
of multi-station Field Day operation.
There is sufficient pickup of one transmitter's energy on the antenna 
being used by a receiver on another band.
For that reason, my club has banned the use of multiband antennas for 
Field Day operation.

For a single station Field Day operation, the multiband antennas are great.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 10/10/2019 5:32 PM, David Lee / Seatools wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 10, 2019 at 2:06 PM Fred Jensen <k6dgw at foothill.net> wrote:
> 
>> Yes, however ... a center-fed dipole long enough to be moderately close
>> to a half-wave at 40 will develop a serious case of acute lobe-itis when
>> operated at higher frequencies, squirting your RF in a variety of
>> directions, many of which may not be productive for your intended
>> objective.  Try, as many have over the years, to design the "magic
>> antenna" that is very small, provides a 1:1 match on all bands, easily
>> installed, and exhibits good gain, your effort will inevitably fail.  As
>> JC Maxwell is reported to have said, "Physics is physics, the rules are
>> unbreakable."  A log-periodic will give very modest gain over an octave
>> or more, however LP's hardly fall into the Field Antenna class. [:-)
>>
>> 73,
>> Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
>> Sparks NV DM09dn
>> Washoe County
>>
>> On 10/10/2019 1:24 PM, Al Lorona wrote:
>>> My experience with single vertical or sloping wires is exactly the same
>> as AB7E's. I have, over almost twice as many Field Days as Dave, come to a
>> similar conclusion, with the slight difference being my preference for an
>> "all-band dipole" fed with balanced line. This obviates the balun and
>> reduces feedline loss to negligible, so obviously I am maximizing
>> efficiency at the expense of any other possible advantage. (I can usually
>> hear much better than I can be heard... so thus far this has been a valid
>> decision.)
>>>
>>> To sum up what I and what I think Dave are saying, you can't beat a
>> horizontal, center-fed wire up as high as you can get it. Its simplicity,
>> the flexibility it gives you to QSY (with a good tuner), and its high
>> efficiency are almost unbeatable.