In article ,
wrote:

I am installing a Carolina Windom Short 80 and am not sure which way to
orient it.

The company which sells the antenna says that because the antenna has a
vertical section which radiates; the antenna is omni-directional.

But others say that it radiates best in the direction of the ends.

Some disagree saying that a dipole is a dipole and so its antenna
pattern would be optimally broadside to the antenna.

Since the antenna is not center-fed; if it were a dipole the lobes along
the longer section would produce more signal; is that the case here.

If it *were* a half-wavelength dipole, I don't believe that the
direction or strength of the lobes would depend on the point at which
it were fed... center, off-center, or end (as in a Zepp).

This antenna doesn't look like a simple dipole to me. It appears to
be a combination of a doublet/dipole with the ends folded back, and a
vertical section which is deliberately designed to radiate.

The radiation pattern is going to vary, between the horizontally-
polarized component (from the flat-top and folded-back sections) and
the vertically-polarized component (from the vertical radiator between
the matching unit and the line isolator).

Horizontally-polarized radiation from the flat-top section is (I
think) going to be primarily off to the sides (perpendicular to the
wire) when the antenna is used on 80 meters, and probably on 20 meters
as well (due to the presence of the resonator stubs). On other bands
it'll be a more complex pattern, with multiple lobes. I'd expect a
null directly off of each end, on all bands.

Vertically-polarized radiation will be near-omnidirectional, and will
tend to fill in the horizontally-polarized nulls off of the end (and
the inter-lobe nulls in other directions on other bands).

The angles of maximum radiation for horizontal and vertical components
of the signal will almost certainly be different.

In short, it's going to have a complex radiation pattern which will
vary both horizontally and vertically, and will differ from one band
to the next.

Is this a good antenna or just so much bs?

Haven't used it myself, and so I can't say for sure.

Based on its design and what I expect its radiation pattern to be, I'd
guess that it's a decent overall performer, with fewer "dead spots"
than a dedicated half-wavelength dipole, slightly lower gain in some
directions, possibly better DX performance than a low-mounted dipole
(due to vertically-polarized radiation from the vertical section) but
possibly more prone to pick up close-in manmade noise (also due to the
presence of the vertical section).

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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