[TowerTalk] Testing beams

[Charles H. Harpole]

My experience, here comes my 2 cents-- is that operator skill accounts for
80 to 90 percent of achievement in contests.  Look at the WRTC results in
something like a test circumstance.
About testing ants., I want much signal over the horizon at the DX station
rcvr, not a couple hundred feet downrange on a test range.
Also, I donna think ANYBODY can say one beam antenna is better than
another if all they have done is take one down and put another up.  There
are just too many intangible factors in trying to make that judegment.
For example, I replaced 10 year old coax with brand new coax (and
connectors)-- onto same tower, same antenna.  Result was I THOUGHT I heard
better and was heard better, but I question my ability to detect the
difference in reality.  I think I was just "driving a clean car"-- I.E.,
noticing how much better my car drives when it just comes off a real good
cleaning.  

Hamdom needs real world, dx distance, side by side tests.  Otherwise, we
are just blowing the smoke of teenagers bragging abou their Fords or
Chevys.  de K4VUD


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