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#1
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[ Copied from another newsgroup.]
While I'm in the mood, the following little calculation may assist in understanding what goes on in an antenna. Suppose we wish to know the radiating efficiency of a resonant half-wave dipole fed at its center. When at exact resonance we are concerned only with pure resistances. For calculating convenience, we assume the radiation resistance, Rrad, is uniformly distributed along the length of the wire and is 140 ohms which has been calculated from its dimensions. It only has two - Length and Diameter. But for a half-wave dipole it is always about 140 ohms. Wire diameter has a relatively small effect on Rrad. Frequency, F = 10 MHz. One wavelength = 300/F = 30 metres. Overall dipole length L = 15 metres. Copper wire diameter D = 2mm. Calculate Rloss, the end-to-end wire loss resistance - Rloss = 0.0833 * Sqrt( F ) * Length / Diameter ohms, which takes skin effect with copper wire into account. Rloss = 1.976 ohms. Insofar as the current flow is concerned, the total resistance in the antenna wire is 140 + 1.976 = 141.976 ohms. But only Sqr( Amps ) * Rloss watts is lost. So antenna efficiency = (Power radiated) / (Power input) = Rrad / ( Rrad + Rloss ) Effncy = 140 / ( 140 + 1.976 ) times 100 percent. Effncy = 98.6 percent. Note that we have taken care to place both the radiation and loss resistances at the same place in the system so that they can be properly compared. It is usual to locate the radiation resistance at the dipole centre as one lump when it then becomes 70 ohms. But a slightly different efficiency calculation is then needed to provide the same correct answer. Almost certainly there will be an appreciably greater loss in the transmission line to the transmitter and in the coupling/impedance transforming coil and capacitor networks. If you are interested in numerical quantities without tedious arithmetic, download in a few seconds one or two simple programs from the following website and run immediately. Amuse yourself. ---- .................................................. ........... Regards from Reg, G4FGQ For Free Radio Design Software go to http://www.btinternet.com/~g4fgq.regp .................................................. .......... |
#2
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Reg:
[snip] For calculating convenience, we assume the radiation resistance, Rrad, is uniformly distributed along the length of the wire and is 140 ohms which has been calculated from its dimensions. It only has two - Length and Diameter. But for a half-wave dipole it is always about 140 ohms. Wire diameter has a relatively small effect on Rrad. [snip] Reg, in your model, is your *assumption* "for calculating convenience" that radiation resistance is uniformly distributed along the antenna structure, i.e. the transmission line that represents the antenna in your model, supported by any theory or is it just a mathematical *fit* to the data? For example, one could *assume* literally any analytic distribution of radiation resistance along an antenna's length, for instance sinusoidal, catenary, exponential, triangular, etc... and come up with a value/function for that particular distribution that has the equivalent effect of a lumped value placed at the antenna feedpoint. What is so unique about uniform? Why do you think *uniform* is any better than any other distribution of Rrad? I have no axe to grind here, just curiosity... Best Regards for the New Year. -- Peter K1PO Indialantic By-the-Sea, FL. |
#3
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Peter,
I am somewhat surprised to receive such questions from your good self. They are not so far from the realms of Ohm's Law as to cause YOU any difficulties. Perhaps after the festivities you are feeling too lazy to satisfy your own curiosity by exercising your brain cells. ;o) You must be aware, even without thinking about it, a lumped radiation resistance must always be associated with a definite location on an antenna at which the current is known. This by no means need be at the feedpoint. But I guess this is the first occasion on which you have been confronted with the *distributed* variety and have been brought to a sudden dead stop. Let's stay with the well-known resonant 1/2-wave dipole. The objective is to directly compare radiation resistance with wire loss resistance. To do this means the same current must flow through both just as if they were in series with each other. { Many people are familiar with the simple equation, efficiency = Rrad / ( Rrad + Rloss ) and state it whenever an appropriate occasion arises. It sounds very learned of course. But in the whole of North America I venture to say hardly a single radio amateur knows from where Rloss and Rrad can be obtained (except perhaps ground loss with verticals) and what its value is. It follows that few have ever used the equation presented in Handbook articles, etc. } We have a choice. 1. Lump both the radiation resistance and conductor resistance together at one point after transforming from the distributed to lumped value of wire loss. Or 2, leave the wire resistance where it is and distribute the radiation resistance along the wire. We have no choice about the type of istribution - it must be the same as the wire resistance is distributed - i.e., uniformly. Whatever we do we cannot avoid transforming from a lumped to distributed resistance value, or vice-versa. Electrical engineers do it all the time. In the case of a dipole there are several ways. But its a simple process and the result is amazingly even more simple. I prefer to begin with the accurate assumption of a sinewave distribution of current along the dipole wire with the maximum of 1 amp at the dipole centre. Then integrate P = I squared R from one end of the wire to the other to find the total power dissipated in the wire. The equivalent lump of resistance located at the centre (where 1 amp flows) turns out to be exactly half of uniformly distributed end-to-end resistance of the wire. In fact, that's exactly how the radiation resistance of the usual 70-ohm lump got itself into a dipole's feedpoint. It is exactly half of 140 ohms. If radiation resistance itself had any say in the matter I am sure it would prefer to be nicely spread along the length of the wire instead of being stuck in a lump next to the feedpoint. If the end-to-end wire loss resistance is R ohms then the ficticious equivalent lump at the centre feedpoint is exactly R/2 ohms. So easy to remember, eh? Another way of obtaining exactly the same result is to calculate the input impedance of a 1/4-wave, open-circuit, transmission line, which of course is the same as half of a half-wave dipole. It even has a 1/4-sinewave current distribution along its length. The input resistance at resonance is always half of the conductor loss resistance. With a good impedance bridge this can be measured to keep Roy happy. In fact, it is the pair of 1/4-wave, open-circuit, single-wire lines constituting the dipole which transform the uniformly distributed wire loss resistance to the equivalent lumped 1/2-value input resistances as measured at the dipole centre. And, of course, the antenna performs exactly the same transformation on an antenna's uniformly distributed radiation resistance. I sometimes feel sorry for things which find themselves securely locked in, constrained for ever to obey the irresistible laws of nature, helpless to do othewise, for ever. See how the interlocking bits of the jig-saw puzzle now fit very nicely together. Your general question - yes it would be possible to 'assume' any arbitrary mathematical distribution of radiation or loss resistance and then find an equivalent lumped value which would radiate/dissipate the same power when located at a particular current point. But it would not be of any practical use - it would never correspond to an actual antenna. When calculating efficiency of wire antennas it seems only a uniform distribution of resistance is of any use. An investigator has no choice in the matter. Calculating the efficiency of coil loaded antennas gets complicated. The current distributions of the upper and lower sections are different and so are their efficiencies. But efficiencies are so high in the conductors themselves ball-park guesses are good enough. However it is still necessary to transform various effects, including those due to the coil, to the common base feedpoint in order to calculate input impedance. --- Best Wishes, Reg, G4FGQ =================================== Reg: [snip] For calculating convenience, we assume the radiation resistance, Rrad, is uniformly distributed along the length of the wire and is 140 ohms which has been calculated from its dimensions. It only has two - Length and Diameter. But for a half-wave dipole it is always about 140 ohms. Wire diameter has a relatively small effect on Rrad. [snip] Reg, in your model, is your *assumption* "for calculating convenience" that radiation resistance is uniformly distributed along the antenna structure, i.e. the transmission line that represents the antenna in your model, supported by any theory or is it just a mathematical *fit* to the data? For example, one could *assume* literally any analytic distribution of radiation resistance along an antenna's length, for instance sinusoidal, catenary, exponential, triangular, etc... and come up with a value/function for that particular distribution that has the equivalent effect of a lumped value placed at the antenna feedpoint. What is so unique about uniform? Why do you think *uniform* is any better than any other distribution of Rrad? I have no axe to grind here, just curiosity... Best Regards for the New Year. -- Peter K1PO Indialantic By-the-Sea, FL. |
#4
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Peter O. Brackett wrote:
Why do you think *uniform* is any better than any other distribution of Rrad? Here's a quote from _Antennas_, by Kraus & Marhefka: "... the radiation resistance may be thought of as a virtual resistance that does not exist physically but is a quantity coupling the antenna to distant regions of space via a virtual transmission line." -- 73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =----- |
#5
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Cecil, W5DXP wrote:
"Here`s a quote from _Antennas_by Kraus&Marthelka: "... the radiation resistance may be thought of as a virtual resistance that does not exist physically but is a quantity coupling the antenna to distant regions of space via a virtual transmission line." A problem comparing radiation to a transmission line is that everytime line length increases a fixed amount, so does the loss. The loss is so many db per mile. After a radio wave travels a million miles, the next million miles only produces an additional 6 db loss. Thus, we are looking at radio pictures from Mars. We couldn`t get them by the lowest loss coax from Mars without distributed repeaters. I can`t find my 1955 edition of Terman but as I recall he says that radiation resistance is equal to the resistor, which if placed in series with the antenna, would consume the same power that the antenna does. Radiation resistance is a useful fiction. Radiation resistance is usually the resistance at an antenna`s maximum current point. Fictional or not, it can be measured with an impedance bridge. My 1937 edition of Terman says: "---fields produced by the antenna currents induce back voltages that are equivalent to an impedance against which the applied voltage can be considered as acting." Terman also says: "In addition to the radiated energy, energy is also lost in the antenna system as a result of wire and ground resistance, corona, eddy currents induced in neighboring masts, guy wires and other conductors, and dielectric losses arising from such imperfect dielectrics as trees and insulators, located in the field of the antenna. These losses can be represented in the same way as the radiated energy, i.e., by a resistance which inserted in series with the antenna will consume the same amount of power as that actually dissipated in these various ways. The total antenna resistance is the sum, Rr + Rl, of the radiation resistance Rr and the loss resistance Rl, and determines the amount of energy that must be supplied to the antenna to produce a given current. The efficiency of the antenna as a radiator is the ratio Rr / (Rr + Rl) of radiation to total resistance. This represents the fraction of the total energy supplied to the antenna which is converted into radio waves." Terman also says: "The radiated field (epsilon) varies directly as the current I, the frequency f, the doublet length (delta)l, and the cosine of the angle of elevation, and is inversely proportional to the distance d." The strength of the radiation from an antenna at a point P is the sum of the strengths of the fields of its elemental pieces carrying a current I. Current is not uniform throughout the usual antenna and neither is the antenna`s impedance. The current is zero at the open ends of an antenna, near zero at exact multiples of a half wave length distant from the open end, while the current is maximum at points that are odd quarter wave lengths distant from the open ends. Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI |
#6
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Very, very good Reg. If you can get them to understand
what you have said, it would be a cakewalk to understand the underpinnings of my antennas. My aproach of explaining what you have said is to refer to 'complex circuitry', where in general use this is used to SIMPLIFY circuits. If one understood the basics of what you are pointing out then one could easily understand how one can translate lumped circuits to circuits that RADIATE in an efficient manner. It should not be difficult to understand that a matching circuit which is desirable in a lot of cases, is a circuit of lumped items. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to prevent one from transforming the lumped items to radiating circuits which not only radiate but also provide the same impedance to a transmitter that the original matching unit supplied. Also very importantly it shows how little the frequency dominates the antenna size Thanks a bunch for your posting and I wish you luck in your education pursuit in the area that I met failure Cheers Art. "Reg Edwards" wrote in message ... Peter, I am somewhat surprised to receive such questions from your good self. They are not so far from the realms of Ohm's Law as to cause YOU any difficulties. Perhaps after the festivities you are feeling too lazy to satisfy your own curiosity by exercising your brain cells. ;o) You must be aware, even without thinking about it, a lumped radiation resistance must always be associated with a definite location on an antenna at which the current is known. This by no means need be at the feedpoint. But I guess this is the first occasion on which you have been confronted with the *distributed* variety and have been brought to a sudden dead stop. Let's stay with the well-known resonant 1/2-wave dipole. The objective is to directly compare radiation resistance with wire loss resistance. To do this means the same current must flow through both just as if they were in series with each other. { Many people are familiar with the simple equation, efficiency = Rrad / ( Rrad + Rloss ) and state it whenever an appropriate occasion arises. It sounds very learned of course. But in the whole of North America I venture to say hardly a single radio amateur knows from where Rloss and Rrad can be obtained (except perhaps ground loss with verticals) and what its value is. It follows that few have ever used the equation presented in Handbook articles, etc. } We have a choice. 1. Lump both the radiation resistance and conductor resistance together at one point after transforming from the distributed to lumped value of wire loss. Or 2, leave the wire resistance where it is and distribute the radiation resistance along the wire. We have no choice about the type of istribution - it must be the same as the wire resistance is distributed - i.e., uniformly. Whatever we do we cannot avoid transforming from a lumped to distributed resistance value, or vice-versa. Electrical engineers do it all the time. In the case of a dipole there are several ways. But its a simple process and the result is amazingly even more simple. I prefer to begin with the accurate assumption of a sinewave distribution of current along the dipole wire with the maximum of 1 amp at the dipole centre. Then integrate P = I squared R from one end of the wire to the other to find the total power dissipated in the wire. The equivalent lump of resistance located at the centre (where 1 amp flows) turns out to be exactly half of uniformly distributed end-to-end resistance of the wire. In fact, that's exactly how the radiation resistance of the usual 70-ohm lump got itself into a dipole's feedpoint. It is exactly half of 140 ohms. If radiation resistance itself had any say in the matter I am sure it would prefer to be nicely spread along the length of the wire instead of being stuck in a lump next to the feedpoint. If the end-to-end wire loss resistance is R ohms then the ficticious equivalent lump at the centre feedpoint is exactly R/2 ohms. So easy to remember, eh? Another way of obtaining exactly the same result is to calculate the input impedance of a 1/4-wave, open-circuit, transmission line, which of course is the same as half of a half-wave dipole. It even has a 1/4-sinewave current distribution along its length. The input resistance at resonance is always half of the conductor loss resistance. With a good impedance bridge this can be measured to keep Roy happy. In fact, it is the pair of 1/4-wave, open-circuit, single-wire lines constituting the dipole which transform the uniformly distributed wire loss resistance to the equivalent lumped 1/2-value input resistances as measured at the dipole centre. And, of course, the antenna performs exactly the same transformation on an antenna's uniformly distributed radiation resistance. I sometimes feel sorry for things which find themselves securely locked in, constrained for ever to obey the irresistible laws of nature, helpless to do othewise, for ever. See how the interlocking bits of the jig-saw puzzle now fit very nicely together. Your general question - yes it would be possible to 'assume' any arbitrary mathematical distribution of radiation or loss resistance and then find an equivalent lumped value which would radiate/dissipate the same power when located at a particular current point. But it would not be of any practical use - it would never correspond to an actual antenna. When calculating efficiency of wire antennas it seems only a uniform distribution of resistance is of any use. An investigator has no choice in the matter. Calculating the efficiency of coil loaded antennas gets complicated. The current distributions of the upper and lower sections are different and so are their efficiencies. But efficiencies are so high in the conductors themselves ball-park guesses are good enough. However it is still necessary to transform various effects, including those due to the coil, to the common base feedpoint in order to calculate input impedance. --- Best Wishes, Reg, G4FGQ =================================== Reg: [snip] For calculating convenience, we assume the radiation resistance, Rrad, is uniformly distributed along the length of the wire and is 140 ohms which has been calculated from its dimensions. It only has two - Length and Diameter. But for a half-wave dipole it is always about 140 ohms. Wire diameter has a relatively small effect on Rrad. [snip] Reg, in your model, is your *assumption* "for calculating convenience" that radiation resistance is uniformly distributed along the antenna structure, i.e. the transmission line that represents the antenna in your model, supported by any theory or is it just a mathematical *fit* to the data? For example, one could *assume* literally any analytic distribution of radiation resistance along an antenna's length, for instance sinusoidal, catenary, exponential, triangular, etc... and come up with a value/function for that particular distribution that has the equivalent effect of a lumped value placed at the antenna feedpoint. What is so unique about uniform? Why do you think *uniform* is any better than any other distribution of Rrad? I have no axe to grind here, just curiosity... Best Regards for the New Year. -- Peter K1PO Indialantic By-the-Sea, FL. |
#7
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Reg:
[snip] Perhaps after the festivities you are feeling too lazy to satisfy your own curiosity by exercising your brain cells. ;o) [snip] Ahem... well I do admit to imbibing during the Holiday, but I feel that at least 20% of my brain cells are still intact which should enable me to pass the next generation of ham radio exams with no problem. :-) [snip] But I guess this is the first occasion on which you have been confronted with the *distributed* variety and have been brought to a sudden dead stop. [snip] Well yes and no! Even tho,. for professional reasons, I have extensive transmission line modelling software [self-developed] which supports extremes of complex Zo and distributed losses with various loss distributions along the lines, I have never used these computer codes/algorithms to simulate antennas. [My professional applications of these codes, written in Fortran, have been for broadband digital subscriber loop, DSL, BRA ISDN and cable modem transmissions over telco local loops. i.e. upwards of 1000 to18,000 feet of twisted pairs of mixed guages and dielectrics, with bridged taps etc. These codes allow for empirical fits to primary parameters, R, L, C and G as functions of frequency and other effects, etc... I had posted on this NG some of the models developed by several contributors to the ANSI T1E1.4 Standards Committee over the past few years sometime in the last year or so if you recall.] Clearly such software/algorithms which are sort of like finite element analysis methods breaking the lines into incremental sections and summing the results, etc... and can also be used to simulate the driving point impedances and losses, both disipative and radiative, of antennas as you suggest. Until your posting I had never fully thought through what the distribution of radiative losses on antenna structures should be... [snip] Or 2, leave the wire resistance where it is and distribute the radiation resistance along the wire. We have no choice about the type of istribution - it must be the same as the wire resistance is istributed - i.e., uniformly. : : Whatever we do we cannot avoid transforming from a lumped to distributed resistance value, or vice-versa. Electrical engineers do it all the time. In the case of a dipole there are several ways. But its a simple process and the result is amazingly even more simple. : : The equivalent lump of resistance located at the centre (where 1 amp flows) turns out to be exactly half of uniformly distributed end-to-end resistance of the wire. In fact, that's exactly how the radiation resistance of the usual 70-ohm lump got itself into a dipole's feedpoint. It is exactly half of 140 ohms. If radiation resistance itself had any say in the matter I am sure it would prefer to be nicely spread along the length of the wire instead of being stuck in a lump next to the feedpoint. If the end-to-end wire loss resistance is R ohms then the ficticious equivalent lump at the centre feedpoint is exactly R/2 ohms. So easy to remember, eh? [snip] Yes it sure is! [snip] In fact, it is the pair of 1/4-wave, open-circuit, single-wire lines constituting the dipole which transform the uniformly distributed wire loss resistance to the equivalent lumped 1/2-value input resistances as measured at the dipole centre. And, of course, the antenna performs exactly the same transformation on an antenna's uniformly distributed radiation resistance. I sometimes feel sorry for things which find themselves securely locked in, constrained for ever to obey the irresistible laws of nature, helpless to do othewise, for ever. See how the interlocking bits of the jig-saw puzzle now fit very nicely together. [snip] Linear distribution... Yes, now with your simple, yet very clear explanation, I now see that, thanks! [snip] \ use - it would never correspond to an actual antenna. When calculating efficiency of wire antennas it seems only a uniform distribution of resistance is of any use. An investigator has no choice in the matter. [snip] Hmmm... I'm just thinking... that may not always be the case! What about certain kinds of travelling wave antennas. i.e. a V-beam, or a rhombic, etc... which are transmission lines with an ever changing spacing between the elements. Surely the radiation resistance along such an antenna/transmission line is not distributed uniformly even tho the dissipative losses are! Thanks again for your lucid reply, I am indebted to you for refreshing some of my *besotted* brain cells... hmmm, I wonder is it the reds or the whites that cause most of the brain cell damage? I'm gonna go try some of my homebrew transmission line software on some antenna problems and see how it does... Best Regards for the New Year. -- Peter K1PO Indialantic By-the-Sea, FL |
#8
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"Art Unwin KB9MZ" wrote
Very, very good Reg. ========================== Art, nice to hear from a representative of the few who agree with what is the bleeding obvious. I am aware of your long outstanding problems about convincing folks of the properties of your loop-coupled antenna proposals. But I am too exhausted and too long-in-the-tooth to take part in the (by far) unecessarily convoluted arguments. Try KISS. Provide a precise, unambiguous picture of all dimensions and submit it to a program capable of analysing it - if you can find one. I am unable to provide any assistance myself in that direction. May you and yours enjoy life in 2004 to the full. ---- Yours, Reg, G4FGQ. |
#9
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![]() "Reg Edwards" wrote in message ... "Art Unwin KB9MZ" wrote Very, very good Reg. ========================== Art, nice to hear from a representative of the few who agree with what is the bleeding obvious. I am aware of your long outstanding problems about convincing folks of the properties of your loop-coupled antenna proposals. But I am too exhausted and too long-in-the-tooth to take part in the (by far) unecessarily convoluted arguments. Try KISS. Provide a precise, unambiguous picture of all dimensions and submit it to a program capable of analysing it - if you can find one. Reg, no need for help as it is all completed with success. I may add. I used AO PRO to do the final wrap up as well as making the antennas which in uncompromising fashion proved what you are stating but what other people have been unable to understand . And I have made many different antennas of this family.! I might add that with shorting either capacitor one can change a "T match style antenna "to other forms that provide for high or low impedance at the antenna feed point. to meet requirements of the transmitter.as well as providing a ' loss less' interface, a subject that has been bandied around for years but in isolation. I am sure glad however, to see a dissertation such as yours that was unsolicitated even tho it may finish up as a 'Plonk" on this side of the Pond as many times the obvious is ignored until it apears in a book Hopefully you will able to withstand the junk that will now be thrown at you for stating such an outrageous thing. Cheers Art I am unable to provide any assistance myself in that direction. May you and yours enjoy life in 2004 to the full. ---- Yours, Reg, G4FGQ. |
#10
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Peter,
To satisfy yourself that a half-wave dipole automatically transforms end-to-end wire resistance to an equivalent lumped resistance of half its value located at the dipole centre, use program RJELINE3. It takes only a few seconds. Enter F = 10 MHz, Open-wire line length = 7.5 metres = 1/4-wave. As everybody knows a 1/4-wavelength of line (a half dipole), behaves as an impedance transformer. Any value Zo of open wire line will do. But try Zo around 500 ohms with thin wire such as 0.2mm diameter. Terminate the line with 99999999 + j99999999 ohms, ie., open circuit just like the dipole ends. Loop-ohms per metre of the wire is one of the computed results. Another computed result is exact line length in wavelengths. Vary line length until it is exactly 1/4 wavelengths. The input impedance of the 1/4-wave length of open-circuited line is also calculated and displayed. It will be found that at exact resonance (vary length or frequency very finely) the input impedance of the line will be a pure resistance ( jXin = 0) equal to half of the of the line end-to-end wire resistance. It is obvious exactly the same transformation occurs when the wire resistance is replaced by a uniformly distributed radiation resistance. If your own programs significantly disagree then consign them to the junk box. As you may have noticed I never support my stuff by citing the usual old wives. Never come across, even heard of most of 'em. There are no references except my tattered note books. I came across various useful relationship around 1960 when researching into methods of locating faults on oceanic phone cables. But I daresay Heaviside preceded me. I dug up much information and designed fault locating and other test equipment but very little was published beyond contract manufacturing information. There were two articles in the house engineering journal. I worked alone with a small group of assistants, a lab and a workshop. I did present a series of lectures afterwards, twice in Europe. But it was all just in a day's work with occasional trips aboard cable laying ships and at manufacturers. The nearest I got to the States was Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. I then shifted in succession to several entirely different fields of operations. But no experience is ever lost. -- Reg, G4FGQ |
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