[TowerTalk] 40 meter dipole

[Jim Brown]

On 10/2/2023 3:59 AM, J. Hunt via TowerTalk wrote:
> The performance of an antenna will depend on the overall element size (length).
> Shorter elements will have a narrower usable SWR bandwidth.

Yes, but extensive modeling shows that SWR bandwidth is the only 
important downside of loading that is not inductors at the feedpoint.

SWR is NOT a measure of antenna performance, and the added loss due to 
SWR values below 3:1 at the feedpoint are too small to matter unless 
you're using line smaller than RG8/11, and/or the lines are very long. 
My 80M dipole at 125 ft fed with about 170 ft of a good RG11 presents a 
5:1 SWR on 60M at the TX, but is quite effective running legal limit 
(100W ERP).

73, Jim K9YC