Richard Clark wrote:

I can't either - not here in the basement where I can hit my buddy's
repeater a dozen miles away with a 1/2W HT driving a 6" whip. Note I
say that I "can," but I don't for the shame of not having a J-pole
mounted on a 20 foot mast. I only kerchunk it knowing full well my
buddies won't talk to me on my whip through their own J-Poles. Of
course this is ironic where the repeater is using a quarterwave
because it is:
1. Much simpler,
2. Vastly more efficient;
3. Has an immensely lower angle of radiation;
4. Is superior to tune up;
5. and is mounted on a really, really tall tower (not a pole).


Oh dear, this sounds like another case of some poor innocent beaten with
a J-Pole when they were a child, leaving a lifelong hatred of the
infernal things.

I too was a victim of J-poling, those of us who are identified by the
strange double welts and scars, one large and one small. With years of
therapy, I can now stand to be in the same neighborhood with the evil
"Devil's Cane".

Ever notice that they resemble the dreaded Wouff Hong? The elders were
on to something.


Seriously though, they are just another antenna, and usually used for a
pretty simple purpose, that of hitting the local repeater. I've used
quarter wave, dipole and J-Pole, and yup, they hit the repeater. No
majick, just something to mess with.

Right now I am using a J-pole for a more important reason. My wife likes
the look better than a ground plane.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -