[TowerTalk] Balun question(s)

[Tom Rauch]

> There's a lot of people using Cebik's 88 and 44 foot
doublet solutions
> that swear by them. Of course, they rarely mount them at
the
> recommended height of 100 and 50 feet, respectively.

I have an analysis up at

http://www.w8ji.com/short_dipoles_and_problems.htm

The problem is the antenna is too short for the lowest band.
88 feet is too short for an 80 meter dipole, 44 feet is too
short for a 40 meter dipole.

> The height is the most important factor in this antenna.
At 20 feet,
> your friend will have completely lost the bi-directional
pattern and LB
> Cebik was attempting to obtain.

I disagree. A nice pattern isn't nearly as important as
being able to apply power to the antenna. The problem is the
antenna is too short.

> > It is a design that looks OK in a model (because the
model
> > has no tuner or feedline), but it really stinks when you
try
> > to build it.
>
> As I remember the original paper, these doublets were
intended to be
> "backup" antennas.

I would think being able to tune the antenna with a tuner is
a basic requirement of any antenna, backup antenna or not.

73 Tom