You are suggesting that it is easier to make a low loss capacitor that is
located at the feedpoint in a hostile environment, than it is to make a
low loss inductor (the hairpin).

What I was maning to say that is easier to determine the correct capacitance
(just using a variable capacitor) rather than the correct inductance (using a
sliding short on the hairpin). Once one determined the correct value, the
variable element should anyway be replaced with an equiavalent fixed element

Only hundreds?

Hy-Gain have used this feed system on 2m antennas for a very long time.
Yes, their gain figures seem a bit generous, but the hairpin is a viable
commercial option.

Well, this is an antenna just for 6-meter enthusiasts fabricated in Italy, and
there are not too many of them around here.

It is a long time since I read your first post, but narrow bandwidth can
be an advantage. It reduces out of band signal reach your first amplifier
where it will mix and produce IMD products that may be in-band. Narrow
band antennas help to provide the selectivity that is lacking in many /
most modern radios.

yes, but the bandwidth is so tight that it barely fits my needs. Also the SWR
response shift when it rains is a problem to which I have no solution

73

Tony I0JX