Well I have gone back to Decibel catalogue 23. Older books discarded. I am pretty sure that at one time the DB224 was rated at 4.5 dBd, and then later at 6 dBd., but this is from memory, I can't find an older catalogue.
Regarding a clean and shiny antenna, we had a discussion at coffee. The preposition was that radio waves and light have many similarities, ie., wavelength, reflection, Fresnel behavior, and so forth. Using these similarities, a mirror reflects light, and a dark surface absorbs light, sooooooooooooooooo, wouldn't a shiny antenna reflect incoming signals while a dark colored antenna absorbs signals? This may only apply to receiving antennas - hope I can get this idea to market before the April 1 edition of QST.. .... .. .... .. de nu5d
