Antennas are my field. What Mr. Klein says about the useful frequency range
of a discone antenna is right. A reasonably well designed discone antenna
will have about a 3:1 frequency range because the pattern degrades as the
frequency increases. It is also true that the SWR of a discone usually
remains under 2:1 for a significantly wider than 3:1 frequency ratio. Of
course, SWR is no measure at all of an antenna's performance.

Another example of an antenna with a far larger SWR bandwidth (to coin a
phrase) than pattern bandwidth is the terminated rhombic antenna. A well
designed rhombic has 2:1 or perhaps 2.5:1 pattern bandwidth and a huge SWR
bandwidth.

When doing propagation measurements in West Va. over 40 years ago, I
came across a small rhombic in a front yard being used to receive TV
signals. The man of the house had been in the Signal Corps.

One last note: almost anything will "work" as an antenna. The issue
should be how well does the antenna work, never whether it works.

Regards, Mac

..... slowly finding some of the "secret instructions" of my brand new
BCD396T.

--
J. Mc Laughlin; Michigan U.S.A.
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