On Sat, 29 Apr 2006 07:55:47 -0400, Buck wrote:
There are a total of four antennas I have mentioned in here for
comparison sake.

Hi Buck,

They are by degrees poor, poorer and poorest.

The Hustler
You probably walked away from the best of the group here.
the 102 whip with a possible 2 foot extension
which isn't extension enough.
and two Antenna Specialists (AS)
the air-cooled resistors.

The fiberglass poles, of course, have copper wound around them
from bottom to top, above which is a whip (stinger) about the same
length as the pole.

These on something like 4 foot or longer extension poles would help
you for a cheap solution to the lower bands. Adding a top hat to the
stinger (yeah, impossible) would go further.

(I don't have the 102 whip yet.)

Get one, at hamfests they are cheaper than toilet paper.

I know others who have used the 102 steel
whip/auto-tuner combination that I have talked to never complained
that they only received s-2 signals with the system.

They would never notice on receive. The tuner made the difference.

Therefore, my
theory is that the winding of the coil on the fiberglass poles is
adversely affecting the radiation on out-of-band operation. I am
hoping that the steel whip, with or without the extension, will
perform better on all bands than any of these antennas tested.

A coil loading it halfway up would go further (AKA Bugcatcher).

I realize it is a compromise but the loss of an s-unit or two in
exchange for all band coverage for my mobile without having to switch
antennas or get out of the car and change taps is an acceptable
trade-off.

Then using a cheap tuner (with a loaded antenna), by all means, is
part of the solution.

My question is whether or not the tuner itself can hold up to
the task without being damaged.

As an all band solution, you do stand the risk of one of them being a
fire-breather. Just which is hardly predictable with any accuracy
given the vast number of variables. There is certainly a strong
correlation with longer wavelengths and short antennas. So, you might
design two systems - cheaply, of course.

Mobile quarterwave dipole?
base. The suggestion I was given was not to use the antenna tuner on
a 20 meter dipole to tune a 40 meter frequency. This would be a 1/4
wave dipole on 40 meters. I don't know what the impedance of such an
antenna would be, but I do know that a 1/4 wave vertical is a
reasonable match.

Again, you should never believe everything you hear.

A quarter wave dipole should be a snap to tune. On the other hand,
using an 80M antenna on 40M could be a bear. Also, a quarterwave
dipole is only vaguely related to a quarterwave vertical - um, let's
just say that relationship is too strained to be compared.

We never discussed the use of the tuner in the mobile.

That was the first thing you said, it would be quite close to the
proposed mount. Anyway, I have always considered it part of your
cheap solution and it has a place there.

I should have clarified that this statement. The internal inductor of
the tuner makes up the missing length of the antenna and heats up
which can cause damage to the antenna tuner's inductor. This is how
it was presented to me, or how I understood it. Again, the discussion
was using the tuner to tune short dipoles to transmit on lower
frequencies.

This is another instance of not believing everything - but it at least
this time it offers a nugget of truth. This is the spin of the wheel
of chance I mentioned above. Don't fret so much and simply try it in
the driveway. Open the tuner, fire up the rig and tune for lowest
SWR. Let go of the key and touch components to see how hot it's
gotten. You don't need infra-red analysis and toolkit of thermocouple
probes to obtain a good understanding of the situation. Repeat on all
bands.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

SNIP

This is another instance of not believing everything - but it at least
this time it offers a nugget of truth. This is the spin of the wheel
of chance I mentioned above. Don't fret so much and simply try it in
the driveway. Open the tuner, fire up the rig and tune for lowest
SWR. Let go of the key and touch components to see how hot it's
gotten. You don't need infra-red analysis and toolkit of thermocouple
probes to obtain a good understanding of the situation. Repeat on all
bands.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC
Thanks, After reading all this, I will be going to get the antenna. I
have a mount on side of the van. i will re-wire it so it goes to an
SO-239 connector so I can mount the tuner next to the antenna for the
test. if all is well, I will get a hole kit and set it up on the roof.

I like the bug-catcher idea, but I don't have the parts .

Thanks, again,
Buck

--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

On Sat, 29 Apr 2006 18:37:46 -0400, Buck wrote:

I like the bug-catcher idea, but I don't have the parts .

You don't have any WIRE? This is preposterous.

You split the vertical rise with an insulator and wind WIRE to fill
the gap. End of story. Your job is to make it mechanically sound at
70MPH and thumb your nose at what may be called Q here.

You want a bigger coil? Have dreams of that Q that marks status here?

Wrap a coffee can with several many wraps of paper so it clears all
seams and beads. Wrap turns of wire around the can/paper. Add epoxy
in nice neat lines along six lengths around the circumference (use
modeling or florist clay to build dams). Wait a couple of days for it
to cure. Take out the can and paper. Clean off the clay. Paint it
red, white, and blue!

What can 40 or 50 feet of wire, clay, three colors of paint, and an
ounce of epoxy cost? $5?

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

On Sat, 29 Apr 2006 16:32:50 -0700, Richard Clark
wrote:

On Sat, 29 Apr 2006 18:37:46 -0400, Buck wrote:

I like the bug-catcher idea, but I don't have the parts .

You don't have any WIRE? This is preposterous.

You split the vertical rise with an insulator and wind WIRE to fill
the gap. End of story. Your job is to make it mechanically sound at
70MPH and thumb your nose at what may be called Q here.

You want a bigger coil? Have dreams of that Q that marks status here?

Wrap a coffee can with several many wraps of paper so it clears all
seams and beads. Wrap turns of wire around the can/paper. Add epoxy
in nice neat lines along six lengths around the circumference (use
modeling or florist clay to build dams). Wait a couple of days for it
to cure. Take out the can and paper. Clean off the clay. Paint it
red, white, and blue!

What can 40 or 50 feet of wire, clay, three colors of paint, and an
ounce of epoxy cost? $5?

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC


LOL I haven't looked into that yet. I will. Thanks.


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW