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Is resonance really where you get best antenna performance?

37 years of just plane old 'plug and play" antenna , coax and SWR meters , always doing my best for getting under 1.5 around the 11 meter band . Bottom line here is this ...........I just didn't know what I didn't know ......,but by the graces of the powers that be , I never blew up a radio or amplifier for not knowing any better and I think I had plenty of years to have done so . I suppose I'm just "one lucky guy" in this radio hobby ? If I had to have gotten this deeply involved with antennas and swr's I'm guessing I more then likely would have been gone a long time ago.
So maybe ? in the end of all of this , following the simple minded directions at least saved my radios and amplifiers ? (Thank God for that !) but I more then likely could have done so much better if I only had all the science down as I just got done reading for the last hour ? Yep ! I'm just one lucky guy ! (Thank you all for the antenna lesson) for me it's like this , if it works , whatever I do , dont fix it !
 
The shorter antenna designs - read this as less than 1/4 wavelength or like the 5K is shorter than a 102" whip - the "R" value changes - goes lower - when the antenna is shorter than it should be.

  • - it then has to add length by using inductance (coil wind) to restore that "X" value
  • - but it cannot compensate of bring the R-value back up to 50Ω
  • - to make the SWR Impedance closer to 50Ω the XL is added
    • - but adding that extra wire cannot bring back R except for being what the antenna "appears as" to the system - an antenna with a Lower R - which means it's offset by winds of wire to balance out Z to be closer to 50Ω
  • Your R value even though the antenna is shorter - helps to reduce the needs of the antenna having to REQUIRE extra wire because it can't make up the difference in height "Big R versus Little R ". - which helps reduce the dependence of Z (Impedance) requiring XL and XC having to make up the difference (your Conjugate used by the antenna)
After having read that, I'm glad my antenna doesn't suffer from low T!
 
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I adjust my antenna to the lowest possible swr, from the radio using the installed coax and forget it.
Never had any problems and never fried a radio.
And, had several really good talkers. Both local and skip. All of the other stuff mentioned here is WAY too complicated for me. Anyway, I do it how I do it, no problems at all. Ever.
 
I adjust my antenna to the lowest possible swr, from the radio using the installed coax and forget it.
Never had any problems and never fried a radio.
And, had several really good talkers. Both local and skip. All of the other stuff mentioned here is WAY too complicated for me. Anyway, I do it how I do it, no problems at all. Ever.
yup, ALOT of people like to turn simple things into the most complicated, math driven, physics expert gibberish. the bottom line of antenna design is simple, build the antenna for resonance at the operating frequency, then match feedpoint impedance to transmission line using the appropriate method. done! that is the correct way to build an efficient antenna system. period
 
Now that I have a screwdriveron my car, I notice that if I tune by watching the rx meter and max sound that the see is always higher than if I use the see meter. And I've noticed resonance is never at lowest swr. I think the swr is always about 1.5 to 1.75. It's the feed point impedance I'm almost sure. If I remember right
 
What I have learned.
Utilize top notch coax
Shortest transmission line & jumpers you need.

I see more gains keeping lines short as possible in lieu of "tuning stubs".
 
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