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!