Re: [HCDX]: Re: Beverages

[Hermod Pedersen <hermod.pedersen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

john r dale wrote:
>In most cases, you can't
>tell the difference between a 200-foot longwire and a 600-foot longwire. 

John is right, if speaking about signal strength. There would be not that
much of a difference, but then again, if the signals is down around the
threshold (as with real faint DX signals), even the slightest difference
_do_ make _the_ diffrence.
Still, regarding signal strength, this is not the big deal.

It is, however, when looking at directivity. The longer, the more narrow
the directivity for a beverage antenna. If it is constructed correctly,
that is. I've had to shorten my beverage, to get a broader pick-up pattern,
which better suits my listening interests.
And, mind you, this goes for shortwave as well as mediumwave. 600 meters
gives a lot of directivity, and excellent signals for the targeted area, on
60 meters. I get audible Bolivians and Peruvians on my 600 meters all the
time, while only noticeable, and not really audible, on 200 meters. The
overall signal strength is far higher on the shorter antenna, but I still
cannot hear anything of value. That I can on the long one, while the
S-meter hardly moves above S1, in spite of an overall rating of O3.
So personally I don't give a lot for signal strength. What counts is
audibility. And when receiving, nothing beats a beverage antenna. If only
it was a lot more easy to maintain...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hermod Pedersen
Nordic Shortwave Center <http://www.nordicdx.com/>


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