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Re: [TowerTalk] OCFD: Should I be able to do better?

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] OCFD: Should I be able to do better?
From: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Date: Thu, 27 May 2021 11:36:16 -0700
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On 5/27/2021 11:21 AM, Keith Dutson wrote:
I have three Buckmaster OCF dipoles.  I run 1500 watts, so use RF chokes (Palomar MC-1-3000) under the antenna balun and inside the shack at the amplifier.

You have been suckered by two incompetent companies.

This results in the auto tuner (Palstar HF Auto) being able to tune all bands to close to 1:1 VSWR, allowing full 1500 watts output.  Great results on all bands from 160 to 6 meters.

SWR is NOT a measure of antenna performance. SWR measured in the shack is simply an indicator of the transmitter's ability to put power onto the feedline.

The shortcoming of antennas like this is their susceptibility to the RF noise that surrounds us. These designs may have been fine for 40 years ago, when noise levels were FAR lower, but they are terrible for TODAY. They may transmit OK, but they don't hear well because of their susceptibility to noise. We can't them if we can't hear them!

If you can rig three of these lousy antennas, you can rig resonant dipoles fed with coax and choked at the feedpoint, as Jim Lux has described.

73, Jim K9YC
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