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Re: Topband: Compromise vertical loading questions

To: Björn SM0MDG <bjorn@sm0mdg.com>, <topband@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: Topband: Compromise vertical loading questions
From: "Tom W8JI" <w8ji@w8ji.com>
Reply-to: Tom W8JI <w8ji@w8ji.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:06:49 -0500
List-post: <topband@contesting.com">mailto:topband@contesting.com>
One additional point about this that I might not have expressed in enough detail.

When a top hat with significant capacitance compared to distributed capaciatnce along the radiator is involved, current tends to become very linear throughout the radiator no matter where any loading inductance is inserted.

Bjorn has a particularly extreme example for this, because the SRF of the vertical without any inductor was 2.2 MHz.

<<The antenna is self resonant at 2.2 MHz and I use a coil wound on a water bottle to bring it down to 1.8. The coil appears to be about 8-10 uH according to online calculators.>>>

He only has 100 ohms of reactance-cancelling inductance, which further proves his statement that the antenna SRF is 2.2 MHz. While the amount of reactance has no direct bearing on distribution, the fact it is so low means current is pretty much all flowing into the hat wires. Series reactances do not change distribution above the reactance because it is a series system. Shunting capacitances or reactances do. The only way current can change is through an electric field and displacement currents. The significant capacitance, in his case, is the hat.

The only two places where significant changes are possible without a significant height increase are:

1.) reducing foldback of the hat

2.) improving the ground system


73 Tom
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