Very little has changed in the last 50 years when it comes to antennas
a yagi is still a yagi, a bowtie is still a bowtie, and a loop is still a loop
you can encase it in plastic or paint it pretty colors but its still the same old antenna that's been around for decades
what HAS changed is heavy advertising and false performance claims
Db gain over a DIPOLE used to be the standard back when
honesty in the industry existed
today they quote "raw gain" and gain over the non- existant "isotropic" reference
DBI is a totally useless gain figure that can't be proven or tested on this planet PERIOD
Since you can't possibly build or buy an isotropic reference, they can claim anything
its like saying an antenna has 15 db gain over a UNICORN
a 4 bay bowtie built by the best engineers on the planet never produced more than 12 dbd gain yet today I see claims of as much a 17 db gain
a new gullible generation is easy pickins for these tactics and the proof is in the sales figures
quad shielded coax is another one I get tired of
you will never find a situation where you will see a difference between normal 100% shielding and quad shielding on TV frequencies
its another marketing ploy
and while the gullible are buying this stuff up by the mile, they fail to notice that this magical coax they bought has a STEEL center conductor that not only can't power their magical super duper low noise figure preamp properly, but can in fact RUST and ruin their massive investment
I used to tell people years ago to take anything that is heavily advertised and pushed with a grain of salt but today you need the whole salt shaker to swallow some of these new claims
Last edited by WIRELESS ENGINEER; 8-Feb-2017 at 6:27 PM.
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