John Gilmer wrote:
Hi:

A month or so ago I say a PBS piece on fractals. The piece claimed that
the "technology" is used to make the antennas for cell phones.

Have any amateurs used "fractal technology" to form their antennas?

I recall a 10 meter fractal antenna. Strange looking thing. Disappeared
some time ago from the web.

It's interesting that they call fractals "technology". Any of us could
generate a usable fractal, and form some wire along that pattern, and
make something. "Fractal" is no more technology than is "dipole".

There is a fellow who used to post here who has a company that makes
such antennas. When I first came to this group, there was a war winding
down. I never had any problems with the guy, but whoeeee the arguments
were running hot.

But on the antennas themselves, they work, but they are not a substitute
for a lot of other high performance antennas. All antennas are
compromises, and Fractal ones are all about getting an antenna into a
small space. The are mostly UHF also. That ten meter antenna was the
exception, not the rule. HF? Imagine a 160 meter Fractal. No matter how
it's done, it's still going to be big. If you have a small box running
at UHF, you might think about putting a fractal (or it's cousin, a small
random pattern antenna) in it. But if you want to run 80 meters in a
small yard, there are better ways of doing it.

Also, I note that "they" market HDTV antennas that are about the size of a
book. Do these things work? What's inside them?

Define work. 8^) *Real* close to the stations? then probably. As for
what's inside, if there was any design at all, probably a dipole cut for
the approximate frequency. But that's a guess. IMO they are a wast of money.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:31:22 -0400, Michael Coslo
wrote:

I recall a 10 meter fractal antenna. Strange looking thing. Disappeared
some time ago from the web.

Same page for ten years now:
http://www.qsl.net/kb7qhc/antenna/fr...sket/index.htm

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

Richard Clark wrote:
On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:31:22 -0400, Michael Coslo
wrote:

I recall a 10 meter fractal antenna. Strange looking thing. Disappeared
some time ago from the web.

Same page for ten years now:
http://www.qsl.net/kb7qhc/antenna/fr...sket/index.htm

Ahh, I didn't know about your page. The one I was thinking about had an
actual picture and construction ideas.

So you're in the Puget Sound area? I used to stay in Poulsbo fairly
often. Spent some evenings at the "Sons of Norway" club there. Coslo is
a good old Norwegian name! 8^)



- 73 d eMike N3LI -

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:26:54 -0400, Michael Coslo
wrote:
So you're in the Puget Sound area? I used to stay in Poulsbo fairly
often. Spent some evenings at the "Sons of Norway" club there. Coslo is
a good old Norwegian name! 8^)

So howcum you missed the Norwegian independance day parade here in
Ballard? Largest one outside of Norway.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

Richard Clark wrote:
On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:26:54 -0400, Michael Coslo
wrote:
So you're in the Puget Sound area? I used to stay in Poulsbo fairly
often. Spent some evenings at the "Sons of Norway" club there. Coslo is
a good old Norwegian name! 8^)

So howcum you missed the Norwegian independance day parade here in
Ballard? Largest one outside of Norway.


Oh, being in PA kinda limits my access. My Sons of Norway exposure was
mostly because a relative was a member. I really liked those folks
though. Garrison Keillor just about has them pegged - although the folks
I was around liked to party a bit more.

My favorite story from those days is how when I first meet a Norwegian,
they would tell you in a couple minutes if they like you or not. If they
like you, they next thing they do is buy you a drink. I eventually told
my father in law (the member) that we had to limit my meeting more
people to the weekends, or no more than 2 an evening.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

On Oct 1, 11:30*am, Michael Coslo wrote:
Richard Clark wrote:
On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:26:54 -0400, Michael Coslo
wrote:
So you're in the Puget Sound area? I used to stay in Poulsbo fairly
often. Spent some evenings at the "Sons of Norway" club there. Coslo is
a good old Norwegian name! 8^)

So howcum you missed the Norwegian independance day parade here in
Ballard? *Largest one outside of Norway.

Oh, being in PA kinda limits my access. My Sons of Norway exposure was
mostly because a relative was a member. I really liked those folks
though. Garrison Keillor just about has them pegged - although the folks
I was around liked to party a bit more.

My favorite story from those days is how when I first meet a Norwegian,
they would tell you in a couple minutes if they like you or not. If they
like you, they next thing they do is buy you a drink. I eventually told
my father in law (the member) that we had to limit my meeting more
people to the weekends, or no more than 2 an evening.

* * * * - 73 de Mike N3LI -

I spent 3 months in Norway, they must have liked me a lot. Good thing
that happened in my youth.

Jimmie

JIMMIE wrote:
On Oct 1, 11:30 am, Michael Coslo wrote:

My favorite story from those days is how when I first meet a Norwegian,
they would tell you in a couple minutes if they like you or not. If they
like you, they next thing they do is buy you a drink. I eventually told
my father in law (the member) that we had to limit my meeting more
people to the weekends, or no more than 2 an evening.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

I spent 3 months in Norway, they must have liked me a lot. Good thing
that happened in my youth.


Yup. I know the feeling. Poulsbo had more characters per square inch
than any other place I've been. I had the retired marine sargent who was
afraid of ghosts - but nothing else, the most people loving person I'd
ever seen, "****bird", the mumbling old gent who wasn't happy unless he
had you rolling on the floor laughing, and a host of others. They were
all much older than me at the time so they're probably all gone now.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:26:54 -0400, Michael Coslo
wrote:

Ahh, I didn't know about your page.

No one actually cares about fractal antennas. Like the rest of the
tourists, our original poster has already moved on without a second
thought on the subject.

The one I was thinking about had an
actual picture and construction ideas.

No one actually builds them either, unless they were accidentally
"constructed" when left in the driveway and back over with a car.
We've had actual picture of Art's antenna left on a doorstep that Art
(like an unwed mother) has never acknowledged. Construction ideas
litter webspace like a toilet papered tree.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

No one actually cares about fractal antennas. Like the rest of the
tourists, our original poster has already moved on without a second
thought on the subject.

The one I was thinking about had an
actual picture and construction ideas.

No one actually builds them either, unless they were accidentally
"constructed" when left in the driveway and back over with a car.
We've had actual picture of Art's antenna left on a doorstep that Art
(like an unwed mother) has never acknowledged. Construction ideas
litter webspace like a toilet papered tree.

I saw that program on PBS (I think it was Nova). They actualy interviewed
the designer who used to post here all the time.

Frank