On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 13:52:43 -0500, JerryB wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I had seen formulas for dipoles using 468/FMhz
and the V's were always 2 to 5% shorter, which would make the V about
16 foot per leg. But I guess that's not taking height and angle into
consideration. I'm learing so guess I have more to do. Thanks again.

Hi Jerry,

At best, such formulas are a starting point, and one should always cut
the wire LONGER than any solution offers.. This is so that you can
trim it to accommodate local variations in geology, topography,
interfering trees and houses and the world in general.

Modeling programs attempt to anticipate a myriad of complications,
such as your height and angle variables to aid in construction. Also,
modeling programs attempt to portray the consequences of building your
antenna by providing matching information and launch characteristics
so that you can vary elements and observe the impact of your actions
before you start building.

This is all relative of course. Your back yard may not conform to the
model's expectations, and you would then experience a divergence from
your own expectations of performance. However, even in this regard
you have a basis of comparison. You can vary the model's settings
(generally this reflects a poor choice of ground type or wire size or
its insulation) to conform to your reality, and then alter the model
to what your desired characteristics and be relatively assured that
changing your physical model in a similar manner will result in
greater success.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC