[BC] Re: Cutting Vs Matching Antenna Vs no code

[Xmitters@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/23/05 8:23:06 PM Central Daylight Time, 
broadcast-request at radiolists.net writes:

<< And they DON'T know a thing! (one tried to argue with me that cutting an
 antenna for min SWR was better than matching the antenna at its resonant
 freq!!!) >>

I'm curious. I take it by your response cutting an antenna is inherently the 
wrong way to minimize VSWR. Why? Now I don't mean to start a VSWR battle, what 
it is and what it aint. However, I think it matters what's important to the 
persons making their respective arguments. One position Vs the other hardly 
suggests that the person does not know anything. Maybe you're saying something 
that I'm missing.


Now, I just recently installed a whip antenna on my SUV for two meter FM. My 
rig has a max VSWR spec, and I did not want to exceed it. SOOooo, I used the 
cutting chart to trim the antenna, 20 watts up and 1 watt back. Now I can live 
with that :-) Now, why would I want to screw around building a matching 
network when all I have to do is cut the stupid thing?

Now let's look at a tower for my AM broadcast station. Now, I sure would look 
silly crawling up the tower, acetylene torch strapped to my back, hacking off 
pieces of tower and then yelling down to my wife to read the VSWR on the 
transmitter. It sure would be a lot easier to design and build an ATU. Now even if 
that tower were the perfect height, it is not going to be 50 Ohms on the 
ground but think you get my drift.

I have talked to folks on the ham band that were very technical. Some of them 
however were not very practical and others of them were not very personable. 
So I think judging the new hams based on, for instance, their understanding of 
antennas is a rather poor way to judge if the person is a poor ham or not.

I must admit, I was afraid two meters would turn into CB when the code went 
away. I'm active again on 2M after being silent for 20 years. In monitoring 
nowadays, there is virtually no change in the quality of persons at the other end 
of the conversation. It is debatable that ham radio has much of a value these 
days. 

Don't hit me with the emergency communication argument. That does not hold 
water. Ham service has more spectrum than any other service. All I'm saying that 
the cost (spectrum) versus benefit (emergency communication) is at least 
questionable given that few people if any, can design and build their own 
equipment. And I don't think that's a function of knowing the code or not, sorry.

Jeff Glass, BSEE CSRE
Chief Engineer
WNIU WNIJ
WB9ETG since 1970