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

[Dr. Gerald N. Johnson]

On Tue, 2008-06-03 at 18:57 -0700, Jim WA9YSD wrote:
> 2000pf capacitor is not your normal find at a swap fest these days.

And it has to carry significant current. If the resonant impedance is
100 ohms, 100 watts puts 100 volts RF across the capacitor. And with a
reactance of 20 ohms that puts the current at 5 amps. Takes a minimum
1.5 x 2.5" molded transmitting mica. Else the capacitor burns up.

> I have seen this use before and one of the hams on field day built one 
> and we used it.  Only problem was we had nothing up to compare it with.  
> That was 10 years ago.
> 
> It is nice that these programs work out as expected.  How ever, I found 
> the DB antenna to be just as quiet as a folded dipole when I ran a 
> comparison on 17M last year for about 3 weeks.  The double
> bazooka was a better receiving antenna when I tested them.  Looking 
> back at my notations The Double Bazooka noise floor was a needle width 
> less than the folded dipole on the OMNI VI Plus on 17M.  Maybe because 
> of my location which is not  NOT a IDEAL situation, the Double Bazooka 
> worked better for me on 17M for what ever reason.  I challenge any one 
> to put one of these up and compare it side by side to another wire 
> antenna and see what happens.  Theory says I am off my rocker, the 
> thing works well for me.

17m is not a band that needs the alleged broad bandedness of the
Bazooka.
> 
> It is a fun antenna to play with.  It stood up against the 
> 124 inches of snow and wind we had this last winter.  Its all 
> about strain relief and how it is done to keep it in the air 
> and the same for any wire antenna.

But when the metal cross section is 5% of the wind area the bazooka
stands wind and ice far poorer than a wire with 100% of the wind area
being metal.
> 
>  Keep The Faith, Jim K9TF/WA9YSD
> 
73, Jerry, K0CQ