Topband: Do short beverages "work"?

[Rick Karlquist]

K4RO Kirk Pickering wrote:
> Garry just described one my Beverage antennas.
> It's the best QSO-per-dollar investment ever
> made in my station. I would not be without it.
> I used 185-footer that worked on 80 and 40,
> and occasionally even pulled a new multiplier
> out of the QRM on 160 as well. Try it.
> Kirk K4RO

I have been reading these testimonials about how well short
beverages work.  It depends on what you mean by "work".
They might be useful antennas, but whether they are
functioning as beverages is another matter.  At least
at my QTH, a low (30 feet high) dipole is usually a better
receive antenna that a vertical.  A low dipole is omnidirectional
as far as I can tell.  A beverage that is working as a beverage
will exhibit very noticeable nulls.  It would be interesting
to see if really short beverages exhibit these nulls.  Otherwise,
useful as they may be, they are acting a degenerate low dipoles,
but still beat listening on the transmit antenna.

Rick N6RK