On Sat, 3 Apr 2004 14:35:29 -0500, "Dave VanHorn"
wrote:


The 5/8ths has more gain, but not so much more in a band and
application that is dominated by line of sight communication.

Funny, it's made a significant difference for me in the decade or so I've
been using them.

Less than 1 dB is significant? Are we talking about VHF FM DXing?

If the
difference between the two is important to getting into a repeater,
getting into the repeater is not the same as full quieting and can be
an obnoxious advantage suffered by those who have to listen to a poor
connection.

?? More gain is worse?

More gain is not always enough gain. Again, if this is about getting
into a repeater, the less than 1dB difference that holds it open with
a scratchy signal is no panacea. There is nothing your contacts can
do to improve your poor S/N ratio; so, in a sense, it being better is
only from your point of view and an imposition on others to strain
their ears.

I don't follow you. Being able to run into the same machines at lower power
is always good for my batteries, and taking me from noisy to quiet on the
same power is always a good thing.

The same logic applies to getting your buddies to push your car to
boost your MPG. Better MPG cannot be said to be bad, but then you
aren't the one doing the pushing.

Such problems are more simply remedied by elevating the
existing antenna than trying to "add gain."

Altitude is king, as long as you don't throw it all away in the feedline.

Adding altitude also overcomes obstructions that could easily strip
away the added "loss" of the line.

My buddy's 2M repeater is over a nearby hill from me (I am roughly 100
feet below its crest) and 10 miles away. I can hit it with a pocket
HT (100mW with a cheesy antenna) from inside my basement, but move
into another room and it's a morgue. A "better" antenna is hardly
going to do as good a job as the same poor one above ground level. A
"better" antenna will not fit in the pocket, so "better" is entirely
subjective with its objective analysis not so much very better.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC