On Sat, 5 Jul 1997 TexasRF@aol.com wrote:
> All of the big antenna manufacturers have modeling software by now. So, they
> all have a good idea what the gain of their antennas are. It is way past time
> for the ARRL to take charge of this problem and set some standards for
> antenna gain so we can all make informed decisions on antenna purchases (or
> designs for homebrew).
> If they would take control of this problem, we could see some believable
> antenna gains in advertising and see gains published in QST ads.
>
> Without this important oversight, we have to "wing it" as best we can. In my
> own modeling experience, I have found that as gain goes, it is proportional
> to boom length in properly designed yagis. In fact, gain differences seem
> very closely tied to 8.5 times the log (base 10) of longer boom length
> divided by shorter boom length. This would make the KT34XA have 1.06 db more
> gain than the TH7DX. W4RNL can give us some input on this aspect of the
> problem. What say L.B.?
>
> There is a lot of horsepower in this group. What say some of it be directed
> toward the league to suggest they take this problem on? Write your ARRL rep
> (or e-mail him) today and do your part for truth in advertising!
If all antenna gain "truth" were known, and standards properly set, so
that hardcore accurate gains could be correctly advertised, the winning
(for example) tribander would advertise and the losers would all clam up.
That would cost the ARRL lots of money in lost antenna ads.
My guess is there is no incentive for the ARRL to clear up the confusion.
Better to leave the situation as murky as possible so the manufacturers
can all attempt to out-hype each other with expensive ads...
Big Don
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