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Old February 19th 05, 11:18 PM
Tom
 
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Wrapping the antenna wire back on itself as you do with "Frankenstein"
or forming the G5RV into a quasi-rectangle is liable to result in an
antenna that performs no better than a single wire as long as the
maximum dimension, especially in directions in the plane of the shape
and perpendicular to the longest side. However, I have heard people
extol the virtues of a bedspring as an antenna - an extreme example of
winding on itself. Of course, the more wrapping about you do, the more
the wire approaches a solid, the limiting condition. Looking at
Frankenstein, I'm reminded of a fat dipole, something like the
"butterfly" antenna element frequently used at UHF. If you connect the
free end and all the criss-crosses to the feed point, it certainly
would be. With an overall length of 82 ft per the diagram, it would
probably have a major lobe pointing straight up around 6 MHz. Height
above ground will control the gain at lower elevation angles while the
slight inverted Vee shape will broaden the lobe towards the narrow
ends. At higher frequencies, the major lobe will divide into smaller
lobes at lower elevations. The fatness factor will moderate the
impedance range of the antenna around its 6 MHz resonant frequency.

I rather doubt that either your G5RV or the Frankenstein are great DX
antennas, the way they are laid out. Both are liable to favour short to
medium distances below 10MHz and are unlikely to provide the necessary
low elevation angle sensitivity for really long DX in all desired
directions at any frequency. I think you would be better off with less
wire, laid out straight to take advantage of directional properties.
Three mutually orthogonal antennas with a switch would be great. Attach
a vertical antenna, say a CB whip or longer, to your chimney, as high
as possible, for one. Run two independent dipoles in a cross pattern,
even an X like you have would be a good compromise, from the chimney.
Then you can switch among them for best reception - often one will
stand out above the others because of direction, polarisation,
frequency, and arrival angle of the incoming signal will best match one
antenna.

Regards,
Tom