Hi Zeno

Some will say it don't affect it all, others will say it will affect
it a little bit and other will say it affects it alot.

I had several little 1/16th watt neon lights laying around doing
nothing. I would toy with them, lining them on dipoles to find the
highest area of RF on the dipoles, once found, I would solder these
little rascals to the dipole so they wouldn't move in the wind.

Besides looking cute, they offered a little bit of help too.
When it was raining, they wouldn't lite at all on a couple of
antennas, and on others were very dim.
This alone tells me that there is some affect of rain on the antennas.

But one question has always perplexed me to no end.
Why will the light light up if placed on the end of my 10 meter mobile
antenna, but not on the end of 10 meter ground plane. It lights up
just fine about 19 inches below the top on the ground plane and about
22 inches below the top on a vertical with an underground radial bed.

TTUL
Gary

"Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr." wrote in message
...
Hi Zeno

Some will say it don't affect it all, others will say it will affect
it a little bit and other will say it affects it alot.

I had several little 1/16th watt neon lights laying around doing
nothing. I would toy with them, lining them on dipoles to find the
highest area of RF on the dipoles, once found, I would solder these
little rascals to the dipole so they wouldn't move in the wind.

Besides looking cute, they offered a little bit of help too.
When it was raining, they wouldn't lite at all on a couple of
antennas, and on others were very dim.
This alone tells me that there is some affect of rain on the antennas.

But one question has always perplexed me to no end.
Why will the light light up if placed on the end of my 10 meter mobile
antenna, but not on the end of 10 meter ground plane. It lights up
just fine about 19 inches below the top on the ground plane and about
22 inches below the top on a vertical with an underground radial bed.

TTUL
Gary

One question perplexes me - are you so bored that you can't think of
anything better to do other than solder neon lights to your antenna??? My
God, someone please shoot me if I ever get to that stage!!! ;-)

When I was a kid I remember tuning my antenna with one of those little neon
bulbs soldered to a couple of little loops of wire. One guy would be at the
transmitter, the other guy up on a ladder with the bulb. When the bulb was
brightest your antenna was tuned....or something like that...

Zeno

Marty wrote:

"Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr." wrote in message
...
Hi Zeno

Some will say it don't affect it all, others will say it will affect
it a little bit and other will say it affects it alot.

I had several little 1/16th watt neon lights laying around doing
nothing. I would toy with them, lining them on dipoles to find the
highest area of RF on the dipoles, once found, I would solder these
little rascals to the dipole so they wouldn't move in the wind.

Besides looking cute, they offered a little bit of help too.
When it was raining, they wouldn't lite at all on a couple of
antennas, and on others were very dim.
This alone tells me that there is some affect of rain on the antennas.

But one question has always perplexed me to no end.
Why will the light light up if placed on the end of my 10 meter mobile
antenna, but not on the end of 10 meter ground plane. It lights up
just fine about 19 inches below the top on the ground plane and about
22 inches below the top on a vertical with an underground radial bed.

TTUL
Gary

One question perplexes me - are you so bored that you can't think of
anything better to do other than solder neon lights to your antenna??? My
God, someone please shoot me if I ever get to that stage!!! ;-)

"Marty" wrote in message ...

I had several little 1/16th watt neon lights laying around doing
nothing. I would toy with them, lining them on dipoles to find the
highest area of RF on the dipoles, once found, I would solder these
little rascals to the dipole so they wouldn't move in the wind.

Besides looking cute, they offered a little bit of help too.
When it was raining, they wouldn't lite at all on a couple of
antennas, and on others were very dim.
This alone tells me that there is some affect of rain on the antennas.

But one question has always perplexed me to no end.
Why will the light light up if placed on the end of my 10 meter mobile
antenna, but not on the end of 10 meter ground plane. It lights up
just fine about 19 inches below the top on the ground plane and about
22 inches below the top on a vertical with an underground radial bed.


One question perplexes me - are you so bored that you can't think of
anything better to do other than solder neon lights to your antenna??? My
God, someone please shoot me if I ever get to that stage!!! ;-)


Actually, i think this might be an interesting experiment.

I would assume the neon lights have a brightness that is proportional
to the RMS voltage, and that the areas of brightest neons are high voltage
(low current) nodes.

One question is how are you hooking them up? On the dipole?


S.

Hi S

I just wrap the two wire leads around the dipole wire. The lamp
lights whether the dipole wire is insulated or not, if you have it in
the right place that is.

They also let you know if your on the right antenna too!

TTUL
Gary

am (Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr.) wrote in message ...
Hi S

I just wrap the two wire leads around the dipole wire. The lamp
lights whether the dipole wire is insulated or not, if you have it in
the right place that is.

They also let you know if your on the right antenna too!

TTUL
Gary


Ok, so do you electrically attach the two leads together
make a loop out of them, and then wrap this loop around the
dipole? That's what the other poster seemed to be suggesting,
use an inductive pick-up loop, which essentially shorts the
two leads together (a DC short that is).


Slick

On 21 Apr 2004 12:57:16 -0700, (Dr. Slick) wrote:
Ok, so do you electrically attach the two leads together
make a loop out of them, and then wrap this loop around the
dipole? That's what the other poster seemed to be suggesting,
use an inductive pick-up loop, which essentially shorts the
two leads together (a DC short that is).

Hi OM,

Cut the wires off - it doesn't matter, the energy is in the field and
THAT is what is lighting it up. [Standard lab demo of exciting an
ionized gas.] In the late 70s you would find these lamps at the end
of CB whips.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

Hi Slick

There does NOT have to be an electrical connection at all.
You can use lamps that have the leads broken off completely and it
works just fine.

TTUL
Gary

am (Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr.) wrote in message ...
Hi Slick

There does NOT have to be an electrical connection at all.
You can use lamps that have the leads broken off completely and it
works just fine.


Oh yeah, like the tesla coil-flourescent light trick.

Ok, but will the neon lights be able to show you the high
voltage nodes and the high current nodes on the antenna, depending
on their location along the antenna? Is the brightness of the
neon proportional to the RMS voltage?

Or is the brightness only proportional to the effective radiated
power?


Slick