interesting comment
i post w8ji's thread here.
"Originally Posted by KA7NIQ
If you tried to tell most any CB Operator that a Starduster will outperform a full size 5/8 wave antenna for local or DX, you will get little agreement.
IS it possible the computer model is incorrect, and/or something else is going on that makes the big 5/8 wave vertical out play the 1/4 wave ground plane with sloping radials in actual practice ?"
"Nope.
The 5/8th wave depends heavily on a large highly conductive reasonably flat groundplane at the BASE height of the antenna. That groundplane has to extend out in all directions for a considerable distance. The reflection out some distance is how the antenna works and gets gain. Without that groundplane at base height for some distance, the feedline will radiate and the pattern also will not form properly. You ALWAYS wind up with an unpredictable mess because key parts of the system are missing.
The 1/4 wave with sloping radials acts as a vertical dipole. It decouples a bit better from the feedline shield, and it has no area carrying out-of-phase currents.
What you will find is the 5/8th wave can vary from being just slightly better than a 1/4 wave with three or more sloping radials to being much worse at low angles. Statistically the 1/4 wave is more reliable.
The reason you won't find CB'ers who support that is they:
1.) Generally don't understand antennas
2.) Generally don't do valid A-B tests, just like Hams don't.
3.) Like Hams, they are trained to think a 5/8th wave antenna universally has 3 dB gain.
4.) Went through the work of installing the 5/8th wave, so like a Ham it makes them "feel" it is better.
Models are, within known limits of the model, very good. When given the right input they are much better and more accurate than most people are."
I am sure everyone can understand why i would be reluctant to shell out $200 bucks for a new antenna when like most other old operators already have spent a lifetime tweaking dipoles, 1/4, 5/8, and beam antennas to work well for me, ie give me the coverage I need for my situation. I guess if i was new to the hobby I would prolly go the gm route as a good all around antenna. But I understand that no one single antenna does it all. And folks need to understand that, because sometimes they think that they can have one "best" antenna and then encounter situations where they don't have coverage and become upset or disillusioned with that product. So many variables, so little time..........Any way thanks for the observation and opportunity to share views.
