[TenTec] Bazooka antenna.. More than you wanted to know!

[Ken Brown]

Hi Steve,
>  so although we've reduced the reactive 
> component we've also increased significantly the resistive component. 
> The resulting VSWR is improved ( to 2.32:1), but perhaps not by as much 
> as might first seem likely.
>   
With some resistive losses in the cable, or lumped constants, the SWR 
improvement will be much "better" at the expense of inefficiency. Since 
SWR is easier to see on your meter than a few dB of signal loss is, this 
is interpreted as "good" to many people.

I have an antenna that has less than 1.2 : 1 VSWR from 160 meters to at 
least 70 cm, but I don't make many QSOs with it. It sits on the floor of 
my shack, takes about a cubic foot of space, and has big black fins on 
it. It is a great wide band antenna, except for the low QSO rate it 
delivers.

DE N6KB