Ed Cregger wrote:

Yes, BUT, the 5/8th wave radiator will put more of the signal toward the
horizon, instead of launching it at a 40 degree plus angle away from the
horizon. So while one configuration can have higher dbi ratings, it
doesn't count unless the signal goes where it will be most effective.

That is born out he

http://www.cebik.com/gp/58.html

I have a friend (engineer) that designs and builds his boats (some
rather large sailboats) with everything quantized mathematically. I
showed up one day with a model sailboat sitting on a carry stand that I
had made. He asked me how I calculated the angles needed to accommodate
the hull accurately. He said that this problem had been bugging him for
a while. I was surprised because this guy is really smart.

I grabbed two rulers and put each one along the side of the boat and
then clamped them at that angle. I then transferred the angle of the two
rulers to a sheet of paper by simply drawing lines along the inside of
the v that was created. His jaw dropped in surprise. He was amazed at
how easy the process was and he realized that the same process would
work with his full size boats. No math required.

While EZNEC is a fantastic program, it is no better than the programmer
that wrote it. No one person can take absolutely every variable into
consideration because many of them are very, very complex and nearly
impossible to quantize.

I suggested a simple 1/2 wave J-pole antenna earlier that was easy to
make, super easy to tune and one that worked very effectively. Yet
everyone is beating their brains out trying to come up with the best
5/8th wave J-pole, even though this design will require lossy matching
devices to get the impedance down to a manageable/acceptable level.
What's up wid dat?

I do realize that figuring out such a design is fun in and of itself and
may be the real purpose of the exercise. Still, I'll betcha no one on
the receiving end of the OP's signal could tell if he was using the
5/8th wavelength J-pole or the 1/2 wavelength J-pole.

W4RNL may have provided the definitive work on the subject.

http://www.cebik.com/vhf/jp4.html


Ed, NM2K

73, ac6xg