On Nov 9, 10:02 pm, Eric F. Richards wrote:
"Steve" wrote:
I've been reading about these and am intrigued.

These antennas are often mounted in a sloping configuration, but how
steep can the angle be? I'm sure the steepness of the angle is going to
effect the antenna's radiation pattern, but will how? Does it cause the
antenna to become highly directional as the angle increases?

- Actually, the idea behind the slope is to make it more
omnidirectional.

That is one of the the reasons often cited for Sloping the Wire
Antenna Element : The Inverted "V" being another example.

- The ideal slope is something like 30 degrees,
- but there's no hard-and-fast rule on this.

Yes 30 Degrees works well for most Sloping Receiving Antennas.
Horizontal (Flat) Wire = 100% Horizontal Dimension Area of Radiation.
Vertcal (Upright) Wire = 100% Vertical Dimension Area of Radiation.
45 Degree Sloping Wire = 50% Horizontal and 50% Vertical
Dimension Area of Radiation.
30 Degree Sloping Wire = 87% Horizontal Dimension and
50% Vertical Dimension Areas of Radiation.
- - - Roughly speaking.
The 30 Degree Sloping Wire Antenna Element to some
degree can be though of as the same space equalent as
an Inverted "L" Antenna which would make up the other
Two Sides of a Triangle created by the Sloping Side.
* 30 Ft Sloper Antenna would take up the same space as
a 15 Ft Vertical by 26 Ft Horizontal Inverted "L" Antenna.
Note - This Inverted "L" would be 41 Ft long (+11 Ft) and
have 37% more Wire-in-the-Air.
* 52 Ft Sloper Antenna would take up the same space as
a 26 Ft Vertical by 45 Ft Horizontal Inverted "L" Antenna
Note - This Inverted "L" would be 71 Ft long (+19 Ft) and
have 37% more Wire-in-the-Air.

- - - For some it simply comes down to the fact that the
Sloping Wire Antenna may be eaiser to Rig then the
Inverted "L" Wire Antenna.

numb3rs ~ RHF

i cant vouch for the T2FD at shortwave frequencies but i built one cut
for vhf and it was a rocket! it was red hot when compared to all of my
other scanner antennas, including a fairly expensive name brand ground
plane antenna (whose name escapes me at this moment). as far as one
persons statement goes that for receive a simple unterminated dipole is
the same or superior to the terminated one, if that is true then it
would simplify the antenna considerably. it does seem logical that the
terminating resistor would attenuate or reduce at least some received
signal. however at rf frequencies some strange factors arise that are
unknown to me and logic doesnt always serve well when it comes to
antennas. for instance as a teenager i had one of those antique all
metal box springs for my bed. it didnt calculate out that the springs
would load up at all but they were the best hf receive antenna that i
have ever had in my life. the bottom line is this, T2FD is a GREAT
antenna! maybe plain TFD is as good? TRY ONE! (tilt is for omni pattern,
sometimes this is good, sometimes not so good!) you will find
circumstances that arise where the one antenna receives when the other
hears nothing. there is no perfect antenna, several variations to choose
from and compare between is the swl ideal. BUILD THAT DAMN ANTENNA! and
the others too! and most of all, post your results!