[TowerTalk] 160 vertical question (Top Hat)

[Paul Christensen]

>"As I understand it, radiation resistance is mostly a function of the length of the vertical element."  

That's right.  Radiation resistance closely follows vertical length although the base resistance component changes with vertical length and T-top size.

>"BTW --to increase SWR bandwidth, I'm using two wires spaced about a foot for the vertical part of the antenna, connected at both top and bottom."

I took the lazy approach and purchased a bag of LadderSnaps from 73CNC.com.  These are normally used to make 600-ohm open feeders.  By shorting the wire pair at the top and bottom, it "fattens" the conductor to about six inches.   

Paul, W9AC