Wes wrote:
A nearly perfect antenna. Completely flat SWR, totally noise free and
with equal gain in all directions! What more could you ask for?

:-) How about some functionality?

Let's take a look at a G5RV that I bought when I moved
to AZ and got back into HF operation. One side of the
G5RV dipole was DC floating at the antenna tuner output
while the other side was DC grounded. During AZ desert
windstorms, this new G5RV of mine arced at the coax
connector due to precipitation static, sometimes several
times per second. Putting up a 40m folded dipole caused
the arcing to cease. Seems to me, an antenna that doesn't
arc is more functional and less noisy than an antenna
that does arc. :-) In addition, even when the wind was
not strong enough to cause arcing, the folded dipole
delivered less noise to the receiver than did the G5RV.

Folding and insulating are two methods of reducing
precipitation static in airplane antennas. The G5RV
was not folded - the folded dipole was. The G5RV was
not insulated - the folded dipole was.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com