Topband: Antenna matching question

[Tom W8JI]

> Here's my question: the large inductor is much higher Q on 160 than the 
> small inductor (large inductor is about 4.5" diameter, small one about 2" 
> diameter). Would it be better to have the large inductor connected to the 
> antenna and the small one to the feed (the two inductors would still be in 
> series), or the other way around? My original thinking was that it 
> wouldn't really matter since they're in series, and due to the tap 
> selection arrangement the same distributed capacitance is in the circuit 
> regardless. Can anyone think of a reason why the arrangement of which 
> inductor was in which position would make any practical difference in this 
> system that I may have missed?
>

It really depends on the parts.

We always want the highest impedance part of the system to have the least 
unnecessary stuff hanging from it, and to have the highest voltage rating 
for contacts and arc paths.