For some reason, I started thinking about CB radios. I was into them at the start of the craze in the 7os.
For the life of me, I can't remember what the name was for directional, base station antennas. There were some phenomenally big antennas by Wilson, and the MoonRaker series was popular.
But for the life of me, I can't remember what the name was for directional antennas in general.
Randy or Rick?
Mark, I don't know anything about CB radio, but if "directional" isn't the generic term, I'd think that something like "narrow beam" would be synonymous.
Yagis (plural of Yagi, not pronounced like haggis) ? Or was that just for TV antennas ?
Yagi antennas are a specific type of antenna construction.
you take a dipole antenna and multiply that by 2 or more, all mounted on a pole, one element in front of the other.
they look like herringbone and the more elements, the more narrow the beam is, and the more gain.
i remember seeing those large directional antennas on some roofs, and they were very large because of the frequencies involved:
a half wave is around 18 Ft.
some parabolic antennas are a kind of cousin of those Yagis;
they have a halfwave dipole and behind them a huge reflector to direct the waves to the dipole, like a very large optical magnifier concentrating light in a very small spot.
CB'ers also used another kind of high gain antenna, but i can't remember the name.
I think Ken has got it. Though there wasn't an "AHA! That's IT!" moment, I think they were commonly just called "Beams" and that's what I was trying to come up with.
Ken wins a surprise in the (snail) mail.
Are you getting another one? I just gave one away that used to be in my Jeep. We still used them to communicate between vehicles on trail runs.
If you are still interested in radios, HAM radios seem to be increasing in popularity again. Lots of licenses are still available, due to the prior decline in popularity, at least in Canada anyway. Personally, I don't get it. Unless you like to lurk, the Internet has provided much easier and a 'bit' more private means of long distance communications. Still, I can see it being a valid hobby if it is in a persons interests.
Directional Antennas
An antenna is known as "directional" if its pattern strongly favors a certain direction. A directional works by concentrating the signal in one direction at the expense of other directions. It is also commonly referred to as the "Beam" antenna. I am going to start with the earliest type of beam discovered, the "Yagi" Beam. This type of beam was discover by Professor Uda but the english translation was done by Hidetsuga Yagi. This design goes back to the 1920s! One would think today there would be better designs. I believe there is, and that's why I am so interested in antennas!
Don't mention it.
Bob, an excellent book i used to have about antennas is this one here:
http://www.amazon.com/Arrl-Antenna-Book-19th-CD-ROM/dp/0872598047everything you ever wanted to know is in there, and more.
if you're really interested, it's well worth the price.
For some reason, I started thinking about CB radios. I was into them at the start of the craze in the 7os.
For the life of me, I can't remember what the name was for directional, base station antennas. There were some phenomenally big antennas by Wilson, and the MoonRaker series was popular.
But for the life of me, I can't remember what the name was for directional antennas in general.
Randy or Rick?
Mark, after extensive research, I believe the correct answer is the Randy antenna, not the Rick antenna.
I thought the Randy antenna was used for something else.
I've been using one for years with noteworthy success. I highly recommend it.
I figured that was your X-men mutation. Much more useful than getting stuck to all things metal or sprouting 12" nails at in-opportune moments.