Re: Topband: Comparison testing
And also the axiom that if your antenna didnt come down in the winter it wasn't big enough. Sent from my iPhone On Mar 7, 2013, at 10:15 AM, bruce whitney wrote: > Tom, > It is a very well known fact that an antenna erected hastily in harsh > conditions always outperforms one erected leisurely -nice warm day, no wind, > lots of planning and help, etc.. Every Ham I know - is well aware of this. I > can cite example after example - including temporary Field Day antennas > erected in rainy windstorms that outperformed much larger home station > arrays. > > In fact, to take advantage of this - I have been waiting and watching the > weather reports for the worst, blinding snow storm of the season - to be > absolutely sure that my next antenna project will outperform everything else > I have at present. > > Then, you come along and inject all this thinking about objective reasoning, > science and engineering into the mix to challenge many of the popular truths > - it's just demoralizing... Don't be surprised if there are people that will > feel violated or compromised in some way and will lash back. > 73, Bruce W8RA > > > > > > --- On Wed, 3/6/13, Tom W8JI wrote: > > > From: Tom W8JI > Subject: Topband: Comparison testing > To: topband@contesting.com > Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 1:25 PM > > > This reminds me of an experience I had with a new antenna. After working > several days installing a new antenna, I attached it to an a/b switch to > compare it with my old antenna. I was delighted, the new antenna was always > better !!! Then to my dismay I saw I had the switch reversed ... oh boy... I > changed the feeds, and continued the test. Guess what.. the new antenna was > still always better. > Lesson learned human nature and switching antennas in face of QSB.>>> > > There is more truth to that than most of us realize. > > I put up a G5RV about 100 feet in the air, and I used a pretty good feedline. > Doing tests against a dipole on 75 meters, the antenna I called a "G5RV" > would almost always get a worse report than the antenna I called a "dipole", > even during the times when I called the antennas by the opposite names of > what they really were. > > When I would do a test using "antenna 1" or "antenna 2", they were almost > even. > > The most extraordinary thing was with a good friend who just absolutely hated > G5RV antennas. He would say "your audio sounds worse on the "G5RV" " . This > was true even when I called the dipole a G5RV, or didn't change antennas at > all and just said I was changing. > > I really think this is why I installed a 300-foot tower just so I could have > a high dipole. I "distinctly remembered' how well a 300-foot high dipole I > had worked, and I wanted another one. After I installed the dipole here and > compared it to a vertical and other antennas for a year or two, I finally > remembered how well my old 1/4 wave vertical worked. :) > > This was eye opening to me. > > 73 Tom > _ > Topband Reflector > _ > Topband Reflector _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Comparison testing
I "distinctly remembered' how well a 300-foot high dipole I had worked, Very evocative quotation marks. Reminds me that the area of the brain that deals with memory also deals with creativity (imagination), and that one definition of imagination is "remembering something that didn't happen."And the more often we "remember", the more intensively we believe. Bob VE7BS _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Comparison testing
Tom, It is a very well known fact that an antenna erected hastily in harsh conditions always outperforms one erected leisurely -nice warm day, no wind, lots of planning and help, etc.. Every Ham I know - is well aware of this. I can cite example after example - including temporary Field Day antennas erected in rainy windstorms that outperformed much larger home station arrays. In fact, to take advantage of this - I have been waiting and watching the weather reports for the worst, blinding snow storm of the season - to be absolutely sure that my next antenna project will outperform everything else I have at present. Then, you come along and inject all this thinking about objective reasoning, science and engineering into the mix to challenge many of the popular truths - it's just demoralizing... Don't be surprised if there are people that will feel violated or compromised in some way and will lash back. 73, Bruce W8RA --- On Wed, 3/6/13, Tom W8JI wrote: From: Tom W8JI Subject: Topband: Comparison testing To: topband@contesting.com Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 1:25 PM This reminds me of an experience I had with a new antenna. After working several days installing a new antenna, I attached it to an a/b switch to compare it with my old antenna. I was delighted, the new antenna was always better !!! Then to my dismay I saw I had the switch reversed ... oh boy... I changed the feeds, and continued the test. Guess what.. the new antenna was still always better. Lesson learned human nature and switching antennas in face of QSB.>>> There is more truth to that than most of us realize. I put up a G5RV about 100 feet in the air, and I used a pretty good feedline. Doing tests against a dipole on 75 meters, the antenna I called a "G5RV" would almost always get a worse report than the antenna I called a "dipole", even during the times when I called the antennas by the opposite names of what they really were. When I would do a test using "antenna 1" or "antenna 2", they were almost even. The most extraordinary thing was with a good friend who just absolutely hated G5RV antennas. He would say "your audio sounds worse on the "G5RV" " . This was true even when I called the dipole a G5RV, or didn't change antennas at all and just said I was changing. I really think this is why I installed a 300-foot tower just so I could have a high dipole. I "distinctly remembered' how well a 300-foot high dipole I had worked, and I wanted another one. After I installed the dipole here and compared it to a vertical and other antennas for a year or two, I finally remembered how well my old 1/4 wave vertical worked. :) This was eye opening to me. 73 Tom _ Topband Reflector _ Topband Reflector
Topband: Comparison testing
This reminds me of an experience I had with a new antenna. After working several days installing a new antenna, I attached it to an a/b switch to compare it with my old antenna. I was delighted, the new antenna was always better !!! Then to my dismay I saw I had the switch reversed ... oh boy... I changed the feeds, and continued the test. Guess what.. the new antenna was still always better. Lesson learned human nature and switching antennas in face of QSB.>>> There is more truth to that than most of us realize. I put up a G5RV about 100 feet in the air, and I used a pretty good feedline. Doing tests against a dipole on 75 meters, the antenna I called a "G5RV" would almost always get a worse report than the antenna I called a "dipole", even during the times when I called the antennas by the opposite names of what they really were. When I would do a test using "antenna 1" or "antenna 2", they were almost even. The most extraordinary thing was with a good friend who just absolutely hated G5RV antennas. He would say "your audio sounds worse on the "G5RV" " . This was true even when I called the dipole a G5RV, or didn't change antennas at all and just said I was changing. I really think this is why I installed a 300-foot tower just so I could have a high dipole. I "distinctly remembered' how well a 300-foot high dipole I had worked, and I wanted another one. After I installed the dipole here and compared it to a vertical and other antennas for a year or two, I finally remembered how well my old 1/4 wave vertical worked. :) This was eye opening to me. 73 Tom _ Topband Reflector
