[TowerTalk] logs vs. beams vs. quads semantics

[RICHARD BOYD]

For your reading pleasure, here is a (virtually) all new thread.

I often hear people say things like, "Do you prefer a beam or a quad?"  I often point out that a quad -IS- a beam.  Yagis are beams, log periodics are beams, and quads are beams.  For that matter, vertical arrays are beams.  To me, a "beam" is a gain antenna of any variety.  Nevertheless, the term "yagi" and "beam" are often used as synonymous.

Next point, I occasionally hear someone point out that "yagi" should be capitalized, since it's someone's name, as should "beverage" antenna, etc.  My own personal opinion, because it's my belief that this is an undefined or ill-defined aspect of our language, is that either may be correct.  That is, despite its origin, once some item goes into long usage as an item, an object, rather than a person, it is acceptable to stop capitalizing it.

It is my understanding that France has an institute, government run and/or financed, that I think is called the "French Academy" (Academie Francais I think) whose job it is to protect the French language by inventing new words to replace ones from other languages and cultures (typically English/American).  Examples I've heard are "le weekend," "le cameraman," "le parking," words that crept into common usage but were eventually replaced by newly-created French ones.

I have never heard of any other country having such a system.  In the culture I am the most familiar with, the United States, we don't have this; what we have is a free-for-all competition in the "marketplace" of words and ideas, largely driven by the news media and perhaps influenced to some extent by English teachers in schools.  There is even competition within the news media.  An example is that some newspapers and other media spell the leader of Libya's name Khadafy, others Gaddafi, others Qaddafi, etc.  There is no one correct spelling; it's a matter of whose version of it becomes predominant over time.  One large newspaper does not want to "give in to" some other newspaper's spelling, so they stubbornly stick to their own, etc.  No one wants to yield to someone else's version and put themself in the subordinate position.

Consequently, I personally favor yagi and beverage as being lower case, though I won't object if anyone capitalizes them, and I personally think a yagi, a quad, a log periodic, or a vertical array are all "beams."  hihi.  73 - Rich, KE3Q