Radios, and antennas, 3 years of E&M shouldn't go to waste!

[jmbrodsky@domain.elided]

Howard,

        The Ground Plane doesn't really act as the other half of the wave, it 
acts more like a mirror does, creating the 'image' of the other half of the 
wave.  Since there is a change in the electrical permittivity of the antenna to 
the ground plane there is a 180deg phase shift, and you get the other half of 
the wave for free.

        The 114" antenna; with the spring coil and mounting surely do 
approximate the extra 4" you need.

        The Stainless Steel whip from Radio Shack has the ball on the end.  Be a
shame to cut that off and have a red hot poker flailing around.  I'm glad I've 
got the 1.1 SWR.

        If you put the CB in the cab of the Corvette you run out of interior 
cabin space!<G>  Experience noted.  '63 327/Sag3spd  '79 350/th350

        Ken,  silly for me to discuss this, I really didn't ever put an amp on a
CB.  More guilt than anything , not to mention more than 4W output power IS a 
federal violation, but, I'm told that the output power amps now commonly come 
with a receive amp built in for just that.  Yeah, your RF friend is right, what 
good is being able to 'yell' 40 miles and only 'hear' 4?  They should have a 
directional coupler inside the power amp so you don't smoke your own radio 
internals at the instant you unkey the mic.

        Howard,  You ever seen these antennas commonly mounted on the corner of 
some Winnebagos and others that look as is they have a 2" pipe about 2' long 
then a 140" whip?  Asked around to all the HAMs here at work (Numerous, like 
termites in woodwork), none seem to know.

        -Joel
------------------------------

Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 00:09:58 EST
From: Howard R Pletcher <n9ads@domain.elided>
Subject: Re: Antennas
<snip>
Note that this 236" is twice the typical length of the 118" CB Quarter
Wave whip.  When you attach a 118" whip to a metal body and input the
signal at the base of the whip, the body or ground plane is the other
half of your 1/2 wave antenna and ideally it should offer something close
to 118" of length around the antenna, not just 12" of metal surface.
<snip>

There you are, everything you wanted to know about antennas, but were
afraid to ask!

Howard Pletcher
Howteron Products Scout Parts