[TowerTalk] Fractal Antennas, Chip Cohen (N1IR) on Nova

[Jim Thomson]

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:44:55 -0800
From: jimlux <jimlux at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Fractal Antennas, Chip Cohen (N1IR) on Nova
Last Night



I think the primary value of fractal antennas (over other frequency 
independent or broad/multi-band designs of one sort or another) is as a 
unique marketing tool for product differentiation.  Along the lines of 
"now, with patent pending framostat enabled chrome muffler bearings".

it also allows some amount of funding lock-in.  If you hold the patents, 
it makes it harder for someone else to experiment with it and prove you 
wrong.  A would-be debunker gets a letter implying a legal battle might 
ensue, and you figure you got other more productive fish to fry, whether 
or not the legal claims have merit (that is, reproduction of a patented 
thing for experimentation is permitted under limited circumstances, but 
you'd hate to spend thousands of dollars proving it)

##  Have u ever looked up some of these 'patents' ?   Remember the
fellow on the east coast who build's those megabuck ant tuners ? 
Did you look up his 'patent'?     The short of it is....'the ability  to switch the
capacitor  from one end of the coil.....to the opposite end of the coil'. 
His tuner is nothing more than a heavy duty L network..consisting of one
variable coil, and one  variable cap..and a simple ceramic switch.  The switch of
course, just  moves the hot end of the cap from one end of the coil to the other end.
IE:  step down the Z..or  step up the Z.    Just like you see in any ancient ARRL book...
except this fellow actually obtained a US patent to switch the cap !    Look up Clarence
Moore's  patent on his  cubical quad some time.  It's  2 x quad loops with a transposed open
wire line between em..sorta like a ZL / HB9CV  array.  I dunno who ripped off who..
1st.   Some how it morphed  from that...to a single fed loop..with a parasitic  REF loop behind it. 

later... Jim   VE7RF