[Elecraft] New antenna works!

[K8TE]

Kevin is on to something when he compares antennas instantly which I assume
from his description.  Most antenna anecdotes state something like "It works
much better than...I had up previously.  But, both antennas aren't up and in
use at the same time.

My good friend Alan, K0BG, puts it very well.  "WORKs is an acronym which
means WithOut Real Knowledge."  Why?  Because the performance assertions are
not comparative like one gets when using two WSPRLit transmitters on two
antennas at the same time over time.  Those data will show which antenna
performs better and how consistently better one antenna is than the other. 
In every case when I compare antennas, they always out-perform one or two
others at some point in time.  But, one of the three performs better on
certain bands at certain times, most, but not all of the time.

This past Saturday, I frequently noted one dipole out-performed the other on
a specific station at a specific time, regardless of the band (40m and 20m). 
I had callers answer my CQ's that I could not here on the other dipole and
that was true for both dipoles most of the time.  They would "change places"
at different times for the same paths.  Being able to instantly switch
between antennas (K3 with internal ATU) helped me make more contacts than if
I had just one of those dipoles, both about the same height, but at nearly
right angles to each other.  When I had a vertical in the air, it would
sometimes out-perform both dipoles over the same paths.

Every antenna "WORKS", even a dummy load with imperfect coax.  Some antennas
generally out-perform others.  Don't tell me yours works better than mine
without scientific proof, not anecdotes.  W8JI has done a lot of antenna
modeling and on-the-air comparisons in making assertions about antennas'
performance.  I recently read his statement about end-fed wires being a cult
today.  He goes on to explain their failings don't appear when using QRP and
with no other antenna available for comparisons.

As N0AX wrote, "The best antennas is the one that is up in the air." or
similar words.  He also wrote the half wave dipole is simple and it works
well and makes the best first choice.  I would add, the higher the better
until it's a half wavelength high.  K9YC has done modeling that points this
out and debunks most of the NVIS myths that abound in which users state we
need to lower our antennas for NVIS.

I use end-fed wires when appropriate--SOTA, POTA, and on county lines were
simplicity and rapid deployment matter more  than RFI, most of which I can
mitigate or ignore.  I use dipoles at home and most are resonant.  I also
use WSPRLite to get scientific performance data before I assert they WORK or
which one is better.  As I wrote above, I will keep both those dipoles
because they both out-perform the other at times.  As my antenna farm grows,
one dipole will remain as my measurement "standard" so I can truly say my
new antenna (nothing short and shiny) out-performs my dipole.  And yes,
neither is perfect so I use a tuner when necessary on certain
bands/frequencies.

73, Bill, K8TE



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