On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 13:22:20 -0400, Dave Hall wrote:


Well we all can't be masters of every facet of electronics and radio.
And those who are weren't always that way. Most of us learn a few
things every day or so.

That being said, I'll have to look in the archives, but I recall a
discussion some time back about exactly what you are proposing to do.
The consensus at that time, by those who seemed to be in the know on
the topic, was that those type of "stick" end-fed radial-less 1/2 wave
and 5/8th wave antennas were designed to not need radials, and adding
them affects them very little in the areas that matter. The A-99
especially has poor decoupling which allows the feedline to radiate to
some degree, which is why people claim that the antenna "bleeds".
Simply adding radials does not seem to affect the transformer
decoupling all that much and doesn't really help the problem.

I don't know if the IMAX suffers from the same issues, but you might
want to search around for some discussions on them. You might pick up
some useful information.

Personally, I much prefer the "old fashioned" Sigma 5/8th style
antenna with radials. Jay's Interceptor 10K antenna seems to be about
the best thing going these days.


I plan on being about 40 feet at the feed. I just purchased the Imax yesterday.
I never knew buying an antenna and asking questions about it, would absolutely
**** off a bunch of people. I got one guy claiming I need my hand held. I got
another guy claiming that I am only "thinking" of installing it. And then there
is George and his sexual innuendo.

Should I return it? I think the purchase has affected too many lives?

Vinnie S.