The real problem with using an amateur grade antenna is that you think it's working fairly well. You just don't know how well it's really supposed to work with a proper antenna.
Sort of like a digital repeater that has some desense. You think it's working and that digital just doesn't quite measure up to analog. But what you don't know is how well it will work without the desense. Ernie --- In [email protected], Nate Duehr <n...@...> wrote: > > > On Apr 20, 2010, at 6:59 PM, ErnestK wrote: > > > You can use a dual band antenna with a dipelxer and duplexers on each band > > but there are trade-offs. When we first put up W6DHS, we were using a dual > > band Comet 11dbi on 2 meters. We replaced the two meter side with a DB > > Products dipole array 6dbd. We measured a 15db signal increase over most of > > our coverage area. > > A 15dB change in real-world performance means that the original antenna was > little more than a matched dummy load. ;-) > > > > There are differences in the quality of amateur products vs. commercial, > > not only in accuracy of gain figures, but survivability as well. If you use > > a dual band amateur antenna, know that it's probably a temporary solution > > to buy time for some additional fundraising. > > Ernie > > W6KAP > > Budget double the cost of the repeater itself for a properly installed > repeater system. The antennas, feedline, and filtering do the real work. > The repeater's just a couple of radios in a box. :-) > > Or as my first Elmer used to say... "The antenna makes the radio." He proved > that point over and over again with round-the-world QRP contacts on HF... of > course, the solar cycle was a tad higher back then.... but.... you get the > idea... > > :-) > > Nate WY0X >
