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Old December 24th 05, 12:28 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Dave
 
Posts: n/a
Default If the ideal lenght of an antenna is 1/4 Wave lenght then way are the Car Cellular antennas are longer then this ?


"tomerbr" wrote in message
oups.com...
this was a qustion from my instractor in college


short answer: there is no 'ideal' length.

long answer: an 'ideal length' is a metaphysical concept that has no place
in engineering. antennas of different lengths perform in different ways as
governed by the laws of physics, obviously the designers of those antennas
made some tradeoff in length vs signal strength vs distribution of energy in
azimuth and elevation vs installation location and physical limitations
including probably visibility, strength, produceability, and mounting method
to come up with a cost effective solution to the problem of letting a user
make phone calls from car. the concept of 'ideal length' assumes that there
is one length that gives the best of all those possible tradeoffs which is
highly unlikely to exist.