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Old January 13th 05, 03:15 AM
Dave Platt
 
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back on topic,..

i still ponder if i put power into a superconducting antenna if their
is no resistance, and a given about of power would therefore 'stay' in
the antanna longer ie no resistance and a sorta flywheel effect exists
the fields would have to exist longer for fixed-given power , ..

seems that all adds up to more than a trival gain


Not really, no, at least not in the commoner cases.

Let's assume that you could find a superconductor which would be
truly superconducting even at RF frequencies (which today's
superconductors are not, I gather). So, you could cut the loss
resistance of the antenna to precisely zero, in this hypothetical
case.

According to a note Reg posted some time ago, "At 3.75 MHz the
resistance of 20 awg copper wire is 0.206 ohms per metre. Overall
end-to-end dipole resistance 8.24 ohms."

Using the hypothetical perfect superconductor (which may be
impossible) you might reduce this dipole resistance to zero. Great
reduction in loss, right?

Less than you'd think. Remember, the loss resistance of 8.24 ohms
appears in series with the antenna's radiation resistance (which is
due to the RF energy being radiated) which will be around 70 ohms for
an antenna in free space. With the loss resistance present, just
under 90% of the energy is radiated ("dissipated" in the "radiation
resistance"), and 10% turns into heat in the loss resistance.

Getting rid of the loss resistance entirely will thus increase your
radiated power by only about 10% - a small fraction of one dB.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
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