On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 09:39:46 GMT, Paul Hinman
wrote:


wire might not survive. The question for this relative neophyte is,
what effect does the sag have on antenna performance?

Yes, perhaps you got on the wrong tram in the discussion about sag. It
would be easy if you hadn't read the entire thread.

Low sag is obtained by high wire tension.

High wire tension under static conditions increases the risk of
breaking under wind loading.

Antennas that have broken don't perform so well.

Owen

PS: In answer to your question as to whether a dipole can ever be
perfectly horizontal, perhaps no, perfect is probably not achievable
by any real thing, but yes, it can be done to a close approximation,
but it is probably not practical in most situations. Think of an
electric railway with overhead power, the power conductor is very
close to constant grade and parallel to the tracks, think of
suspension bridges with an approximately flat roadway. There are of
course other solutions as well.

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