[TenTec] The Rogers /Dobbins ARL Folded Conical Helix Antenna paper now published. Revolution in small HF Antenna design!

[Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer]

I went by the library after ham club meeting last night and made a copy
of the folded conical helix antenna. I've not digested it yet. My
initial impression of the illustrations is that it tries to make a
helical sheet current on the surface of the cone, by exciting it with a
multitude of slanted folded dipoles. Folded dipoles closely spaced are
tough on NEC, tougher when skewed with respect to each other and the
axes. The experience yagi designers say they never believe NEC until the
antenna verifies on the antenna range. I had a neat antenna worked up a
couple years ago and took the first one to a Central States VHF
conference. It missed by 5 dB from what one version of NEC claimed, and
when I came home and changed the dimensions slightly, NEC dropped those
5 dB. It had no elements parallel to any axis, all skewed. I don't know
if there will ever be a second "cats cradle."

I have read the GAP super C patent. All I see is standard ham mobile
practice for decades, I see nothing novel or patentable.

As to the question, if your patent reviewers have never worked in the
real world and haven't read all of the literature in the field they are
reviewing, it matters not how many are reading, they won't notice the
reinvention of the wheel until they've allowed repeated patents and been
shot down.

73, Jerry, K0CQ
-- 
Entire content copyright Dr. Gerald N. Johnson. Reproduction by
permission only.