13-09-2016, 07:42 PM
Obviously my last remark was very 
but I agree about the doublet. Back in 1962 my "elmer", the then VK4DK said: "put up the longest doublet you can as high as you can and feed it with open wire line. It is the only (HF) antenna you will ever need."
Having said that, such an antenna is not really practical today for several reasons.
1. They need height and space. There were no height restrictions and many houses already had wooden masts for their household broadcast and short wave radios so 60ft ham masts were not a problem. Blocks were usually 1/4 acre and you could get a lot of wire corner to corner.
2. The old valve transmitters had PI or link couplers that tolerated high SWR (not that anyone bothered measuring it). Today's solid state finals would evaporate.
The best antenna I had in recent years was a horizontal delta loop cut for 40m at only 8m high and feed with open wire line. It worked on all bands from 40 to 6m. Unfortunately the new position of my shack does not allow me to use it anymore.
73
Wayne VK4WDM
but I agree about the doublet. Back in 1962 my "elmer", the then VK4DK said: "put up the longest doublet you can as high as you can and feed it with open wire line. It is the only (HF) antenna you will ever need." Having said that, such an antenna is not really practical today for several reasons.
1. They need height and space. There were no height restrictions and many houses already had wooden masts for their household broadcast and short wave radios so 60ft ham masts were not a problem. Blocks were usually 1/4 acre and you could get a lot of wire corner to corner.
2. The old valve transmitters had PI or link couplers that tolerated high SWR (not that anyone bothered measuring it). Today's solid state finals would evaporate.
The best antenna I had in recent years was a horizontal delta loop cut for 40m at only 8m high and feed with open wire line. It worked on all bands from 40 to 6m. Unfortunately the new position of my shack does not allow me to use it anymore.
73
Wayne VK4WDM