[TowerTalk] Yagi gain vs rotary dipole.

[Bryan Swadener via TowerTalk]

There's more to it than forward gain for the signal you WANT to hear. F/B and F/S rejects signals you DON'T want to hear. Otherwise, everyone would just use omnidirectional antennas. I like that QRM disappears or drops down a bunch when I turn my F12 flamethrower 90 or 180 degrees away. Sometimes, I'll null on the QRM instead of peaking on the desired signal. With a beamwidth of around 50 degrees at the -3dB points, the peak is pretty broad. So, there's sometimes not much to lose by turning away a little from the desired signal.
Kudos to K7LXC and NØAX for their book, "HF Tribander Performance - Test Methods & Results". It helped me pull the trigger on my new (to me) F12 C-4XL yagi.
vy 73,Bryan WA7PRC
 
    Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 10:11:40 -0800
From: John KK9A
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Yagi gain vs rotary dipole.


> Regarding comparing a tribander vs a large monobander, I have tried
> comparing various antennas and stacks and I often find the difference 
> very
> hard to notice on my transceiver's S meter. I think with QSB 2 or 3 dB 
> is
> just hard to see, especially if you're not listening to a steady tone.
> 
> John KK9A