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Ian Jackson[_2_] · February 12th 14, 11:21 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna

In message ,
writes
On Tuesday, February 11, 2014 2:12:14 PM UTC-6, gareth wrote:
With the onset of automatic ATUs, is the the final technical

skill that disambiguates the radio amateur from the CBer

being lost?

I've never seen a case where the use of an automatic antenna tuner
drained antenna related knowledge from the operators brain pan.

Could that be because the knowledge was never there in the first place?

Because of the increase of domestic interference, the use of endfed
antennas - fed at the shack (house) end - is now definitely a 'bad
thing', whereas a remote feed usually results in fewer interference
problems.

The advent of remote tuners has been a godsend, as it obviates the need
to devise cunning methods of performing the remote adjustments. However,
I'm sure that there are now some amateurs who have the attitude "If I
sling a random length of wire in the air, and stick an auto-tuner on it,
it'll work just fine". As a result, the art of matching antennas has
become de-skilled, and we no longer need to have any idea whatsoever
about 'how things work'. Is this a 'good thing'?
--
Ian