Understanding my Solarcon 99a antenna

[CBrookie]

My Solarcon 99a antenna says it's a half wavelength over a quarter wavelength antenna.

I'm new to all this so I've been up to all hours of the day and night trying to understand dipoles, wavelengths, antenna basics, etc., etc.

Now just when I thought I had some basic idea of what a dipole does and how a two quarter length dipoles work to accomplish accommodating a half a wavelength, along comes the spec's for my Solarcon 99a antenna with this statement: The 99a Solarcon Antenna is a half wavelength over a quarter wavelength antenna.

What's a half wavelength over a quarter wavelength antenna?

PS:
trying to learn this stuff is like eating a pizza from the center out to the edges!

[The DB]

What's a half wavelength over a quarter wavelength antenna?

Its not really. I know, it was/is advertised as such, and many say it is, but it really doesn't have that "over quarter wavelength" unless it is added in by the installer/user... If you look at it electrically it is really over 2 foot plus mast length it is attached to (unless you used a non-conductive mast).

This antenna has a matching network built in, which means that most everything you learned when studying center fed dipoles pretty much goes out the window when referencing this antenna. A matching network can pretty much tune anything to your radio's SWR, so physical dimensions become far less important. That being said, there are some physical dimensions that do still have some importance...


The DB

[CBrookie]

Thank you DB for the reply.

I'm going to be totally honest here - I'm going to take your response and print it out, then go back to the books/web and figure out to the best of my ability, what all that means.

I have a very good friend of mine who is really into this stuff. His HAM setup can go toe-to-toe with Radio Free Europe. It's massive and his shack is mindboggling. I'll bounce things off him from time to time and I get a similar response, like DB provided here..... " Well, not exactly..." Terrific....

On the other hand, if it wasn't for sites like this, I'm sure a lot of folks just starting out would be in a fog for a long time ... well, for me anyway.

YouTube has some outstanding "basics" programing that formed a foundation for what I'm trying to learn. Some of that stuff is really straight forward, but then, things start to get a little complicated.

In any event, thanks DB for your help.

[MDYoungblood]

Here is a A99 dissected, it gives you a look of whats inside one, [Please login or register to view this link] .

3's

Greg

[CBrookie]

MDYoungblood,
Wow, that's some video. Complex setup for something that I just took for granted when I bought it and use it. My son set the thing up on a mast for me and so far no complaints from the neighbors. I really like this setup and my Solarcon does justice to me for what I want.

Funny thing about the radiation stuff, I can get as far away as 23 miles with some, yet only five miles max with others.(?) At night, I can hear from as far away as Texas, and on one occasion, I got a operator called "Motor Mouth Mall", all the way from California, and that's amazing since I live in Massachusetts. I don't use amplifiers or other things, just my Cobra 29 WX NW ST, a power supply and my Solarcon 99a antenna. Even better, I'll talk with truckers looking for directions along a stretch of interstate for about 10 miles before I start to lose contact.

I'm really hooked on this little base setup that my son did for me. It's a lot of fun and there's some good people that socialize all day long on air. I also find it very satisfying to help other drivers with directions and stuff, like I was helped when covering all the lower 48.

However, the more I think about it, I'm getting in way over my head here trying to educate and rationalize a very complex science. I don't mean to sound ignorant with respect to learning something new - but, for me, ON - OFF - VOLUME control can work just fine for me right now. My setup is a lot like me - simple, basic, work with it.

Thanks guys for the advice and assistance. You're a lot like those that talk and socialize around here - and that's a compliment.

[MDYoungblood]

The Solarcon antennas are very good antennas for the money, they are patent copies of the "Shakespeare" brand fiberglass antennas of years ago, even some of the clones are decent. They are made for quick, easy installs, easy tuning, and have several year lifespan. The only drawback for fiberglass antennas are static buildup on them, a good grounding system helps there but doesn't always cure it. On any given day it's possible to have a 2 or more S-unit noise level just from static.

3's

Greg

[Compudoc]

Thanks for the post Greg. I too am new to this radio stuff and the lingo usually leaves me feeling like I feel when talking to my doctor. Just words without meaning unless familiar with the terminology. The breakdown of the antenna helped me to understand what is going on inside those fiberglass housings.
Best...
South Texas 114. 38LSB.