[TowerTalk] C31XR versus SteppIR

[Tom Osborne]

Peter wrote:

Try to convince Steve.
Seems he is not a believing in antenna simulation.

But I don´t believe in gain figures which are not measured in the main lobe

Peter
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Hi All

Well, I've never modeled an antenna that I have built and they all seem to 
work.  I guess maybe if I bought a modeling program and ran it, I'd get a db 
or better gain, or maybe a little better FB.  Or it may tell me that it 
won't work.  I usually just put up an antenna and if it works, leave it up. 
If it doesn't work, I build something else.

What is someone supposed to do if they have a beam that has been up for 20 
years that they have worked 300 countries with, then find out that the model 
says it won't work, or it has 'negative gain'?

I had a TH-3 here at one time.  Dunno what the modeling says about it, but I 
didn't like it.  I took it down and built a 2 element 20 meter monobander 
out of it and it has worked like gangbusters.  Much better than the TH-3 
did.  I just put it on a quarter wave boom, split the driven element, fed it 
through a coax balun, made the reflector 5% longer and put it up.  Worked so 
good I made a 10 meter beam the same way.

Don't know what the model says about it, but don't care :-).  As long as it 
works, it's fine with me.  YMMV  73
Tom W7WHY