[CQ-Contest] Melti Band Dipole?

[Jim Brown]

On 9/19/2024 1:35 PM, Barry Jacobson wrote:
> I use an 80 m dipole (doublet fed with ladder line from shack tuner).
> Gets out fine from 160-10m.

All of these non-resonant antennas TRANSMIT just fine. Their shortcoming 
is RECEIVE noise. The average home has several dozen noise sources, none 
of which existed 30 years ago when these antennas were promoted by very 
good engineers. Thanks to all of these noise sources, most hams who live 
in "civilization" are deaf. Even on 8 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 
I have solar systems at three beam headings limiting what I can hear.

Feedlines of resonant antennas can be effectively choked to reduce the 
fraction of this noise picked up on the feedline. Non-resonant antennas 
tuned in the shack CAN NOT. Chokes don't make a huge difference -- 
typically up to one S-unit, 6 dB. That's four times the power.

If we can't hear 'em, we can't work 'em!

73, Jim K9YC