[TenTec] OT: Openwire/Window Line and Bad Wx

[Richards]

Hmmm... I guess I am the odd man out... again.

I thought all these little losses are cumulative and can add up.  Sorta 
like getting consecutive sentences, instead of running concurrently -- 
it is not like a 3 dB loss covers up or subsumes a 1 dB loss.  (...and I 
know that is not exactly what you are saying ... I am only laying a 
foundation for my point.)

Mindful of the need to avoid Majoring in Minors, and hoping to avoid 
focusing on a .05 dB loss while ignoring a 4.5 dB loss... I DO worry 
about, and DO attempt to avoid ALL LOSSES of WHATEVER SIZE.

All antennas involve compromise, so should not become obsessed with 
every little loss that comes along, but so may Elmers give those little 
losses the brush off, and tell us to ignore them because the guy at the 
other end cannot tell the difference.

And yet hams are driven to contact rare DX, the weak ones, which means 
one may want to give those little losses a bit more attention, or they 
may be the difference in some cases.   I guess I figure, at some point, 
IT DOES MATTER.

Perhaps it is analogous to the (now) old adage, coined by Sen. Dirkson, 
"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real 
money."

I consider antennas as a "system" of components starting from the SO-239 
connector on the rig, all the way out to the radiator and back.  I 
presume every connector has some insertion loss, and some types of 
connectors introduce an small impedance "speed bump."  Consequently, I 
do my level best to minimize the number of connectors, adapters, 
switches, patch cables, etc., in the system.   I also add as many ground 
radials to my vertical and employ 1:1 CMC chokes on my dipoles.

I agonize over all these little details, mindful not to Major in Minors 
and keep it in perspective.  But for every 3 dBs of loss, I guess we 
lose another level on the S-meter, and 5-6 dB is like taking the amp off 
line, so I think all those little throw away dBs can eventually add up 
to real loss, and, at times, matter.

Knowing I cannot avoid all losses, I do not lose sleep over it, and yet, 
I do my level best to avoid any loss which can be avoided with 
reasonable investment of time and money.  Without the luxury of the 20 
dB GAIN provided by a large yagi or log periodic antenna on a 100 ft 
tower;  I must eek every little bit of signal coming and going possible.

Or... am I just fooling myself and working too hard at it?

Happy trails.
-----------------------  K8JHR ---------------------




On 8/3/2013 9:37 AM, Bob McGraw - K4TAX wrote:

  > My point, with today's receivers, in most all cases the atmospheric
> noise and man made noise will mask any receiver internal noise and will
> easily overtake any loss in the transmission line.

___________________________________________________