gravity wrote:
why do dislike 5/8 wave antennas? can you point me to any references. i
realize there is a high lobe.


Anyone who understands how a 5/8th wave works, and who isn't captivated
by the popular fantasy that the length makes the gain, would know what
the problems are.

A 5/8th wave antenna gets its gain from the ground reflection. The
ground reflection is what form the "image" that produces the gain.

Unless the ground is very large and flat and highly conductive, the
5/8th wave antenna concentrates most of its energy at high
angles.....not along the ground.

Move the 5/8th wave up above the ground or use a poor ground, and
maximum low angle FS comes from shorter antennas.

If you look at:

http://www.cebik.com/gp/58-1.html

you will see a 5/8th wave on 80 meters with a large flat ground system
not only gives marginal gain over a 1/4 w, it also has a null aat the
most useful wave angles for most work.

If you elevate the 5/8th wave or take away the good ground system, the
very small advantage it has goes away.

As a matter of fact AM BC stations, despite their large ground systems,
abandoned the 5/8th wave many years ago. They found in the real world
use of 5/8th waves instead of extending coverage they reduced coverage.

73 Tom