[TowerTalk] ICOM AH-2B

[Scott Honaker]

I have no idea what the design criteria were.  Looking at the thing, I have
to assume it was made for the land mobile market, not amateur.  It is a
massive machined stainless part.  It is clearly built for survivability.  I
have to think performance concerns were a bit lower on the priority list.
I'm sure these things are in combat somewhere.  The performance of the
antenna is less important when it's shattered.  Although they couldn't
withstand the heat of a nuclear blast, they could likely survive the
concussion :-)  I would be more concerned about the survivability of the
radio than this antenna.

As for performance, I expect the mounting location and grounding would be
bigger issues than the material.  I'm not familiar with any large whips that
aren't stainless.  I've only seen Larsen's copper-plated stainless whips up
to 64".

Scott N7SS

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of kd4e
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 6:59 AM
To: TOWERTALK at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] ICOM AH-2B

Why would you have a hard time?  Nothing a sawzall, some self-tapping metal
screws, and some silicon caulking can't handle ... ;-)

Seriously, a different question, why stainless steel in a mobile
  antenna?

Is it the rust resistance and strength overcoming the poor conductivity?

Does the poor conductivity help with loading, though not with performance?