quad antenna modeling

[Rod Fitz-Randolph]

>Hello guys,
>
>which antenna modeling program would you recommend for modeling quad
>antennas? I used a 1988 version of MININEC by K6STI and entered the
>dimensions for several quads out of W6SAIs "all about cubical quad antennas".
>The results were very strange. I do not think the figures in W6SAIs book can
>be that wrong... Or would you expect
>6dB gain and 12 dB F/B ratio for a W6SAI 3ele quad? Do not tell me to recheck
>the figures I entered - I did this more than twice. Something seems to go
>wrong.
>Which programs are you using - where can I get them?
>Thanks for your advice.

I would also like to know if there is any software that is capable of properly
treating a quad antenna.  That which I have tested so far was so far off base
that I gave up in disgust.  Because of the end effect at the corners of a quad,
their is some apparent cancellation which requires, then, that the physical
dimensions of a full wavelength quad be greater than a full wavelength in free
space!  Unfortunately, the software I've used (albeit early models) have
reflected
a dimension that was shorter than a full wavelength in free space.  To make a
long story short, if you find some software that accurately models a cubical
quad, please let me know.  I still use the "1004/F MHz = Length in feet"
formula that I determined in the laboratory with precise instruments while
working for Dr. August Raspet in 1958. The quads I've built for those dimensions
have outstripped published gain figures considerably.

Please let me know what you find!  73 es best DX.  Rod

Roderick M. Fitz-Randolph, W5HVV
79 Highland Hills Cove,
Jackson, TN 38305
(901) 661-9278 (Home Phone - after 10 AM & before 9 PM)
(901) 664-7539 (FAX Number - any time of day)



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