GAP Titan DX Performance Test

GAP Titan DX Performance Test: "General:

The GAP Titan DX is an unusual antenna, with optimistic claims made by the manufacturer. It is appx. 25 feet high, and split in the middle with an insulator. It is claimed to function as a shortened vertical dipole (or doublet if you prefer), without needing any ground radials.

The Titan utilizes a complex arrangement of linear loading/tuning rods, an internal coaxial tuning stub, and a small counterpoise at its base. All of this allows it to operate with 'acceptable SWR' on every band from 80 through 10 meters, including WARC bands, without any active tuning.

The complexity of the loading and tuning makes this antenna difficult to model, and even harder to understand which parts are actually radiating for each frequency range. The manufacturer publishes little to aide in understanding its operation. As best as I can determine, on various bands it performs as everything from a full wave to a loaded 1/8 wave radiator.

This makes actual performance tests of interest to me, for as we all know, the fact that it 'tunes up' on all bands does not say anything about its pattern or gain.

Rather than compare the Titan to other commercial verticals, I decided to compare it to a series of monoband verticals. These reference antennas are easy to model, and thus provide an absolute frame of reference for the Titan.

One may thus be able to deduce the actual pattern of the Titan, and make hypothetical comparisons of it to other vertical or horizontally polarized antennas, placed in other surroundings.

Due to the contentiousness of much of the GAP discussions, I feel compelled to state that I have no connection with the manufacturer, nor any position to defend either promoting or denigrating the antenna.

My sole interest is in performing an interesting experiment, controlled to the best of my ability.

Hopefully these tests will lay the foundation for more unbiased and rational antenna performance commentary by the Amateur Radio community, and lead the way for other hams to publish quantitative antenna test results, rather than anecdotal testimonials or condemnations."

ARRLWeb: FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes

ARRLWeb: FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes

"FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes

NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 19, 2006 -- In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes.

The Commission adopted the long-awaited Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235, the 'Morse code' proceeding, and released it December 19. The FCC R&O also includes an Order on Reconsideration in WT Docket 04-140 -- the 'omnibus' proceeding.

It will modify the Amateur Service rules in response to ARRL's request to accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80 meters in the wake of rule changes that became effective December 15. The Commission designated the 3585 to 3600 kHz frequency segment for such operations, although the segment will remain available for CW, RTTY and data.

The effective date of the FCC's R&O will be 30 days after publication in the Federal Register -- most likely in February. Currently, Amateur Radio applicants must pass a 5 WPM Morse code test to operate on HF. The FCC's action will eliminate that requirement all around. "

"This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current Amateur Radio operators from advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of Amateur Radio," the FCC said.

The ARRL had asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM for Amateur Extra class applicants only. The FCC proposed earlier to drop the requirement across the board, however, and it held to that decision.

The ARRL has been posting all relevant information on these important Part 97 rule revisions on its "FCC's Morse Code Report and Order WT Docket 05-235" Web page.

All Band Antenna Designs - LongWire Balun

All Band Antenna Designs - LongWire Balun

: "We have designed a long wire balun that can dramatically improve the reception on any Short Wave receiver.

The tests we carried out from 500Khz to 30Mhz gave an average improvement of 4 S units, when tested with our current balun incorporated into the design we had computer and electrical interference drop by up to 10 DB....We had to run the tests a dozen times to make sure the readings were correct.

This same balun can be used for feeding an original Windom antenna against ground, 3.5 to 30 Mhz with very good results (100W) transmitter power.
By grounding the balun directly under the vertical radiator of a Windom a very low noise installation is realised.

We used a multitude of long wire lengths and had very favorable results with our balun connected.(Both receiving and transmitting)
Baluns...What is the best balun?

There are 2 types of baluns used in antenna matching networks for HF antennas, 1 is the Voltage or Ruthroth balun, the other is the Guanella or current balun.

There are others which are derived from the above namely quarter wave coaxial balun and air core baluns.

The best balun in my humble opinion is the Guanella type balun using a toroid with an initial permeability between 125 and 300."