Topband: Do short beverages "work"?

[Herb Schoenbohm]

On 1/23/2011 8:45 PM, Bob Eldridge wrote:
> Hi Rick
> It depends what you mean by "really short".  Some consider a half wave
> to be really short.  Beverage Rice and Kellogg original AIEE paper
> showed that there is not much difference in the pattern of a half wave
> and a full wave, but considerable difference when you go to 2 wave.
> They considered the half wave to be working as a Wave antenna, and for
> sure the ones I have used (6 ft or so above ground) had useful
> directivity on 160.
> 73
> Bob VE7BS
Bob,


I always test my Beverages on AM Stations at 1000KHZ  to 1400Khz which 
is about 1/2 wave for a 500 or 600 footer....these tests remove all 
doubts that a "short" Beverage is a superb antenna.  Stations off the 
back for example are covered by Stations in PR and Rep Dom on the 
front....but switching to the SW, S, and SSW Beverages the PR and Rep 
Dom stations disappear and out pops a religious stations in the 
Grenadines without any sign of the others. This is an easy test to 
remove a lot of doubt on pattern performance.


Herb, KV4FZ