If you put "several hundred" watts -- let's say 300 for an example --,
into a stainless steel whip, and that whip has a trifling 0.5 dB loss,
the whip will be dissipating nearly 37 watts. At 1 dB loss, it'll
dissipate over 77 watts. Either is likely to make the whip too hot to
touch if the power is applied for long -- imagine the heat from a light
bulb of that power rating coming from the antenna. If it only gets good
and warm, you'll know the loss is negligible. If it gets too hot to
touch, the loss could still be negligible. Unless it's glowing, you
won't know for sure.

Larsen antennas has made a very good living, thank you, with their
"Kulrod"(R) plated antennas by capitalizing on the irrational alarm
people have when finding a warm whip antenna.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Jerry Martes wrote:


Eric

I've heard that stainless steel whips disipate a significant amount of
energy ay 50 MHz. If you have several hundred watts, you might want to try
transmitting with the ss whip before finalizing your design. You might be
surprized to find that the whip gets warm quickly.

Jerry