I believe what Wayne meant to say was’now replace the AX1 with a resistor’ not a wire. Nonetheless the AX1 and 2 still serve a definite purpose in portable operating that a resistor or light bulb won’t 🤪. And I fail to see what the problem is with using a counterpoise,even if it’s doing some of the radiating. Most antenna systems that are unbalanced (verticals,end feds,etc) require a counterpoise. Are you claiming that a resistor with a counterpoise is as effective as shortened vertical?? I believe Rudy Severn’s work has already demonstrated the effectiveness of short verticals with various counterpoises. Yesterday I did a SOTA activation where I worked Japan,France and Spain with 5W and the AX1. Obviously the altitude advantage is great and I used 3 13’ radials. I also try to position myself near a sloping edge to maximize my radiation effectiveness (as Tom Schiller N6BT advocates). I doubt a 50 ohm resistor would achieve this… and just in case someone says ‘it’s only because the other stations have big antennas etc ‘ some of the contacts were what we call ‘S2S’ or summit to summit with other activators using similar equipment and power. Perhaps hiking to a bare summit and figuring out what gear you’d haul on your back will give you a certain perspective and appreciation.
Dan Presley 503-701-3871 danpresley@me. com n7...@arrl.net > On Sep 21, 2022, at 20:32, David Gilbert <ab7e...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Why would I replace the wire with a resistor? I was talking about replacing > the AX1 with a resistor and keeping the wire. > > I have no doubt that an AX1 without a wire hears better than a resistor > without a wire, but that's mostly because the resistor provides a better > match and can't rely on body capacitance or the coax shield. > > If the AX1 was less expensive I'd buy one and do the tests. I may be totally > wrong, but I still say that ANY tuned short whip with a counterpoise is doing > most of the radiating from the counterpoise. > > 73, > Dave AB7E > > > > On 9/21/2022 7:59 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote: >> Dave, >> >> I've done many variations on whip antenna tests. >> >> A resonant 4' whip with or without a counterpoise is on a different planet >> from a resistor. If an AX1 were listening in on this conversation, it would >> challenge you to a duel, with live ammo :) >> >> In fact the counterpoise is absolutely required for transmit, but you can >> get away without it on receive, where body capacitance to ground alone will >> suffice, even on the HF bands. >> >> Try this test: Go outdoors and connect an AX1 (or equivalent) to the antenna >> jack of any 20 meter receiver. With r without the counterpoise You'll get of >> noise, lots of signals. >> >> Now replace the wire with a resistor. >> >> Nothing. >> >> QED.... >> >> Wayne >> N6KR >> >> >> >> >> >>> On Sep 21, 2022, at 7:29 PM, David Gilbert <ab7e...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> Well, the reason I mentioned the 50 ohm resistor is that a year or so ago >>> somebody on this reflector mentioned that he did a direct comparison >>> between an AX1 with the recommended 13 foot wire counterpoise and with no >>> counterpoise at all. I don't remember for certain but I think he said he >>> used the RBN. I do remember that he said the difference in signal >>> strength was about 30 db. For grins I used EZNEC to model a single 50 hm >>> resistor 15 feet off the ground with and without a 13 foot wire hanging >>> from one end of it. I got 30 db difference in calculated signal strength. >>> I am by no means claiming that is a definitive or even relevant test ... I >>> just think it would be interesting to actually do an empirical comparison. >>> It is my opinion, however, that most of the radiating on an AX1 (or any >>> other short loaded whip) is being done by the counterpoise wire and/or the >>> shield of the coax. The coil and whip are matching aids. If so, it's >>> possible that a resistor would accomplish the same thing. ;) >>> As I said, I'd be willing to do the comparison if anyone is willing to lend >>> me an AX1. I'd be happy to be proven wrong. >>> 73, >>> Dave AB7E >>> On 9/21/2022 6:46 PM, j...@kk9a.com wrote: >>>> Thomas Schiller, N6BT once wrote an article titled "Everything Works". In >>>> the article he discussed how he worked all continents on CW (a mode that >>>> you >>>> can actually hear) using a light bulb antenna during the ARRL DX contest. >>>> The AX1 appears to be a 45" whip with a base inductor made of 20AWG wire. I >>>> am not sure what is inside the base, if anything, to bring the impedance up >>>> to 50 ohms. With some sunspots, I am sure that it is fun for pedestrian >>>> mobile use which is what it's designed for. A 1/2wl dipole or 1/4wl >>>> vertical >>>> will be a much better radiator. >>>> John KK9A >>>> David Gilbert ab7e wrote: >>>> A comparison to any other antenna would be useful. A comparison to a 50 >>>> ohm resistor with a similar counterpoise wire would be even more useful >>>> as a baseline measurement. If anyone wants to lend me their AX1 I will >>>> do that. >>>> 73, >>>> Dave AB7E >>>> On 9/19/2022 10:33 AM, Ron Gruner wrote: >>>>> I've been impressed by how well my little AX-1 whip antenna performs on 20 >>>>> meters. Here's a photo of the rig: https://gruner.com/k4rhg/andover_ma.png >>>>> and the propagation map: >>>> https://gruner.com/k4rhg/wspr_2watts_sep16_2022.png >>>>> A friend, Derek Rowell (AK1WI), gave me a two-watt WSPR kit he had >>>> designed >>>>> -- easy and fun to build. I connected the unit to the AX-1 sitting in a >>>>> window sill facing west and strung the out-of-the-box counterpoise over a >>>>> lamp shade and bed headboard. No idea what the SWR is, but it must be >>>>> pretty good. >>>>> I immediately began receiving propagation reports and within 24 hours had >>>>> reports from 240 unique stations. The farthest was VK5ARG (17,276 km) with >>>>> a SNR of -21. Even though the window faced the west, propagation into >>>>> Europe was strong with SV9KI (7,800 km) reporting -26 SNR. The >>>>> propagation report is from http://wspr.rocks/ <http://wspr.rocks/> >>>>> I've found that WSPR is a great way to evaluate antennas. The AX-1 seems >>>>> to be performing very well. >>>>> 73, >>>>> Ron Gruner >>>>> K4RHG >>>> ______________________________________________________________ >>>> Elecraft mailing list >>>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >>>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >>>> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >>>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >>>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >>>> Message delivered to ab7e...@gmail.com >>> ______________________________________________________________ >>> Elecraft mailing list >>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >>> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >>> Message delivered to n...@elecraft.com > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to n7...@arrl.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
