‰  NOW 35 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM AUGUST 2012 QST  PAGE 54‰

THE DOCTOR IS IN JOEL R. HALLAS, W1ZR, W1ZR ARRL. ORG  SIMPLE MAY BE IN THE
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER  WHAT ARE THE RELATIVE BENEFITS OF A MULTIBAND VERTICAL
ANTENNA WITH VARIOUS TUNED SECTIONS OR OTHER RESONANT ARRANGEMENTS,
COMPARED TO A SIMPLE 43 FOOT VERTICAL WITH AN ANTENNA TUNER?  THE ADVANTAGE
OF A TRAP, OR OTHER MULTIBAND VERTICAL, IS THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED TO
PROVIDE A DIRECT MATCH TO 50 COAX WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A TUNER, ALTHOUGH
PARTICULARLY ON THE LOWER FREQUENCY BANDS, THEY WILL BE UNLIKELY TO COVER
EACH COMPLETE BAND WITHOUT USE OF A TUNER.  THE 43 FOOTER, TO OPERATE ON
DIFFERENT BANDS WILL NEED A MATCHING NETWORK AT THE BASE TO OPERATE
EFFICIENTLY DEPENDING ON POWER, PERHAPS MAKING THE TOTAL COST SIMILAR.  IN
MANY CASES, IT WILL BE MORE INVOLVED THAN JUST AN AUTO TUNER, SINCE THE
TUNING RANGE OF THE TUNER MAY NOT BE WIDE ENOUGH TO COVER 160 METERS.  IN
TERMS OF RADIATING PERFORMANCE, THE MULTIBAND VERTICAL WILL HAVE A PATTERN
LOOKING ABOUT LIKE A 1/4 OR 1/2 WAVE ANTENNA DEPENDING ON DESIGN.  THE HALF
WAVE TYPES HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF NOT REQUIRING A LARGE RADIAL FIELD OR
GROUND SYSTEM FOR EFFICIENT OPERATION.  THE 43 FOOTER WITH A GOOD GROUND
SYSTEM WILL GENERALLY PROVIDE 1 OR 2 DB HIGHER GAIN ON 160 THROUGH 20
METERS THAN THE MULTIBAND VERTICAL, WHILE THE MULTIBAND, MAY BE SLIGHTLY
BETTER ON THE HIGHER FREQUENCY BANDS, BUT WILL CERTAINLY HAVE A BETTER
‰  END OF 35 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ