[Elecraft] New antenna works!

[CUTTER DAVID]

Dave and Jim

Our friend made strong mention of SOTA and the KX series of portable rigs and those users often require a multi-band antenna for simplicity and to keep the weight down.  Our friend's 40m vertical is also being used on 20m, so, it's reasonable to assume he desires multi-band performance, perhaps even more bands.  In portable situations the feeder is often short and sometimes non-existent so there is little or no transformation.  Elecraft promote their rigs to be used with non-resonant antennas: why strive for such a wide range matching unit if not?  Eric has told us many times that he is happy with odd lengths of wire thrown up a tree and another piece thrown on the ground as a counterpoise, ie multi-band, non-resonant antenna.  In these situations lobes and radiation angles are less important than just getting out. 

David G3UNA 


> On 31 July 2020 at 21:28 David Gilbert <ab7echo at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> That's a lot of bad advice all rolled into one.
> 
> 1.  Low voltage at the antenna does not mean low voltage at the shack 
> end of the feedline.  That's why it's called VSWR.
> 
> 2.  Low voltage at the antenna does not mean low voltages internal to 
> the tuner, which can be quite high depending upon the degree of 
> non-resonance.  You aren't necessarily "making life easier for the 
> matching unit" at all.
> 
> 3.  Multi-band antennas mean highly variable pattern from band to band.  
> The same antenna might have a peak to the U.S. (from England) on one 
> band and a major notch on another band.  If you don't care about 
> pattern, dummy loads match pretty easy too.
> 
> Multi-band antennas are fine as long as you recognize that they are a 
> compromise.  I'd be interested in the reason why an antenna properly 
> designed for a particular band is a bad idea.
> 
> Dave   AB7E
> 
> 
> 
> On 7/31/2020 2:04 AM, CUTTER DAVID via Elecraft wrote:
> > With Elecraft matching units you don't need (and it can be undesirable to have) antennas made for a particular band.  You make life easier for the matching unit by making your antenna non-resonant on bands you want to use.  That way the unit does not have to cope with especially high voltages which are most likely to cause internal damage. Save your time, weight, money for other options.
> >
> > David G3UNA
> >
> >
> 
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