Antenna swr questions

vertical vs horizontal changes how the antenna is polarized. Them that angle it way forward are actually hurting themselves when they do that.

It depends on how the antenna is designed. Is it base coil loaded? Mid shaft loaded? How big are the load coils?

www.arrl.org has a rather good book on antenna design to explain that. I understand it, just have a hard time explaining it.

 

Actually, no, they won't all be the same length after tuning for SWR, because SWR doesn't care about your radio. What it cares about is the ground plane, or counterpoise, that you've got and are dealing with. I'm more of a novice like you, but from what I've learned here the vehicle your antenna is mounted on, and where it's mounted has a lot to do with tuning your SWR. Also, where you're parked (near buildings, other trucks, power lines, trees) has a lot to do with what your SWR will read. A higher and longer antenna is better, as long as you're not hitting overhead obstructions or flexing so much in the wind that you're hitting the truck.

 

if you lay an antenna down, you make it horizontal polarized.

It totally changes the radiation pattern of the antenna.

You will actually loose the ability to talk to a vertical antenna when you compare it to someone else using a horizontal polarized antenna.

http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/antennas/basics/polarisation-polarization.php


Most folks in a mobile radio use, have the antenna vertical polarized. The antenna's are more of an omni-directional radiation. Laying your antenna over screws that radiation pattern up for the folks around you who are vertical polarized.

Now if you can convince every trucker on the road to lay his antenna over, you'd be able to get better signals to them.

But you'd still loose distance.

 

SWR is a factor of many things like Thpbltblt says. Groundplane, location on the truck and other design factors. Even the number of connections on the coax.

Just moving it from vertical to horizontal MIGHT have a negligible effect, but should not be drastic.

 

Actually, I'm thinking that it could change greatly going from horizontal to vertical and vice versa. It's all going to depend on how close it is to certain parts of the truck, and whether they are more apt to reflect radio waves or just let them pass through. Trial and error is all I can tell you, but also from what I've read here, get the load or coil as far away from any metal as possible.

 

you didn't understand a thing about polarization did you?