Quote:
Originally Posted by N3LYT
Well they work pretty well on the back of a truck ... A 10' circle of conductive material has to be better than a 10' circle of dirt.
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A 10'
circle wouldn't do anything. It's everywhere transverse to the radio wave. A 10'
crowfoot, which is what you have, could be better than a 10' circle of dirt, but only for some kinds of dirt. But the crowfoot will never, I think, be any
worse than the dirt, since the surrounding dirt is still there and perhaps helping. Besides, the crowfoot keeps the antenna from tipping over.
Comparing an antenna (
any antenna) with something you can put on the back of a truck is placing an extreme bias on the comparison. Mobile HF antennas never come close to good performance. They can't, possibly, unless the modern understanding of physics is all mirrors and pipe dreams. But actually the physics of antennas is well understood, though perhaps not everywhere. I understand maybe a tenth of it myself.
Your installation may well outperform the same antenna mounted on a vehicle, but that will depend on the nature of the local dirt, not on that nicely executed crowfoot support.
Maybe I'll build one just like yours. It really looks very good.