I'm thinking ahead to Field Day. I want to be a part of the (K4BFT)
Huntsville Amateur Radio Club's team. Thinking about putting together a
lean, mean psk31 and MT63 setup for 10m, maybe 15 and 20. The right antenna
is important. Efficient, lightweight, quick to set up. Naturally I go to
sites such as the mighty www.cebik.com and the newsgroup r.r.a.a. to see
what interested hams are talking about.
Hmm. The hexbeam is intriguing, as other designs championed by posters on
this group.
I've tried to steer clear of the fractal antennas. Why? Because I know they
don't work? No. In fact I don't know that. I've been to www.fractenna.com
and seen a content-rich web site put together by what seems to a group of
reasonable people. But like a mild-mannered commuter who flies into
road-rage the moment he thinks someone MIGHT have cut him off on the
highway, the majority of posts under the name Fractenna involve personal
threats, plagues of lawyers and a siege mentality that would have done Nixon
proud during Watergate.
My life is complicated enough. So I don't touch them with a 10ft pole
(actual unfolded length = 68ft.).
It is entirely possible that Fractenna is staging an astonishing long-term
psychological experiment in trolling. If so, it is surely The Greatest Troll
Ever Told. For I have Trolled with the Masters in the likes of alt.slack and
rec.sport.football.college, and nothing in those high-strung newsgroups has
ever approached the relentlessness of l'affaire Fractenna. If this is true,
I salute you, Frac. You RAWK.
ELSE
Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I neither support nor condone any
credible threat against you or anyone. I would be horrified if any harm you
obviously fear would actually take place. I wish you and your family a long,
productive, and happy life.
BUT
If you are actually threatened by people on the net, engaging them on the
net is the ABSO-FSCKING-LUTELY WORST thing you could possibly do. It opens
you up for ridicule and skepticism from annoying but harmless wise guys like
me.
Put yourself in the position of an investigator trying to discern a
legitimate threat out of all what has been said by and about you here. This
is usenet, not a formal debating society. While there is no place for
serious personal threats here or anywhere, informality, hyperbole, and just
plain weirdness come with the package. It is what it is.
FWIW, consider this my last word on the subject of your safety and
well-being. From now on, I will assert my 1st Amendment right to be
brilliant, funny, serious, or dumber-than-nine-chickens. Selah.
73, Corry K4DOH
Thanks for your comments Corry;
I can see that you are sincere and being helpful and I am genuinely grateful
for your advice.
However--
Society does not stop on the NG. It is subject to the same rules and points of
law that we are subject to elsewhere.
I have no concern about 'dumb' comments, or anything else of that ilk. I DO
have concerns about the harassment , slander; defamation; and libel that has
occurred--with me made as the target-- and the latest era of genuinely
danger--motivated threats.
I disagree with you, respectfully. There is no reason why we should ACCEPT
such poor behavior when it is meant to harm.
I don't know what you mean by 'troll'. If, by this, you mean that I have been
dedicated to dissemnation of information, you are most certainly correct. But
its YOU--as a thinking and curious person--who makes that decision for him or
her self. I am by no means offended if fractal antennas aren't your cup of tea.
Whether or not you build a fractal antenna is up to you. I certainly do not
feel you should do so because I 'want' you to. You should do it because Corry
'wants' to.
Best 73,
Chip N1IR
>FWIW, consider this my last word on the subject of your safety and
>well-being. From now on, I will assert my 1st Amendment right to be
>brilliant, funny, serious, or dumber-than-nine-chickens. Selah.
>
>73, Corry K4DOH
>
A g5rv makes a helluva lot more sense than any "beams" for FD ops. In
their worst scenarios a g5rv is only around a half s-unit down from
any of these contraptions, no rotator, they work on all but 30m and
they're a lousy forty bucks and are much easier to put up and get
working.
>
w3rv
Look at this as a vertical with a (horizontal) dipole like pattern and 3 plus
dB gain.
Cecil, W6RCA, had a description on his web page; I don't have the link but
perhaps he does.
73
Chip N1IR
http://people.delphi.com/cecilmoore/fract20m.htm
--
73, Cecil, W6RCA http://www.mindspring.com/~w6rca
Thanks Cecil!
73
Chip N1IR
> A g5rv makes a helluva lot more sense than any "beams" for FD ops. In
> their worst scenarios a g5rv is only around a half s-unit down from
> any of these contraptions, no rotator, they work on all but 30m and
> they're a lousy forty bucks and are much easier to put up and get
> working.
Often on the psk31 "water holes" signals are much less than 100Hz apart.
Nulling out an adjacent signal may be the only hope in some cases. I'd value
a pattern with deep sharp nulls over gain. Almost like a DF antenna. That
makes an easily rotatable antenna appealing. Upon further review, I'm
actually leaning toward a plain old dipole, as parasitic beams tend to fill
in the side nulls. Of course, I'm open to other ideas.
--
It came from C. L. Smith's Unclaimed Mysteries.
http://www.unclaimedmysteries.net/
Celebrating four years as part of the problem with the internet.
My 33ft rotatable dipole is doing an excellent job on 20m-10m.
I've compared it to my 120ft center fed fixed doublet and the
rotatable dipole almost always beats it on 20m-10m. I feed it
with 300 ohm ladder-line and don't use a tuner.
Fact and nature are to be respected and viewed with a sense of wonder. But fear
is born from ignorance.
I promise to continue to provide accurate and timely information on antennas
Corry, despite any efforts on this NG to prevent that.
Best 73,
Chip N1IR
This is directed to Chip, no responses will be gotten from me except
as a response to a comment he might make. I hope none will be
necessary...
I have been watching the Fractenna threads in this newsgroup for well
over a year now. I've been to the Frac web site several times. It is
an excellent web site. While the theory/methods of calculation for the
dimensions may not be detailed, what do you expect for a family of
antennas going through the patent application process? What is there
is certainly sufficient for *any* shade-tree mechanic (much less
someone more technically inclined) to build the ten meter version
shown.
Why haven't some of you absolutely rabid Fractenna-raggers (and there
are a number of you) built one, evaluated it, compared it in ANY sort
of comparison with ANYTHING and then posted the results here. At least
three of you have expended more time at the keyboard beating on the
concept than it would require to actually construct the thing and try
it out...
The man has demonstrated many times over he knows a great deal about
his chosen focus. While I'm sure several of you "observes" also know a
great deal, if you are as knowledgeable as you appear, professional
courtesy and email exchanges would seem much more appropriate than
some of the tirades I've seen here...
Enough of the "ragger" bashing. Now, Chip, some comments for you...
>>
>>73, Corry K4DOH
>>
>
>Thanks for your comments Corry;
>
>I can see that you are sincere and being helpful and I am genuinely grateful
>for your advice.
>
>However--
>
>Society does not stop on the NG. It is subject to the same rules and points of
>law that we are subject to elsewhere.
>
In theory, absolutely not in practice. Usenet has been an absolute
free for all for years now...
<snip>
>
>I don't know what you mean by 'troll'. If, by this, you mean that I have been
>dedicated to dissemnation of information, you are most certainly correct. But
>its YOU--as a thinking and curious person--who makes that decision for him or
>her self. I am by no means offended if fractal antennas aren't your cup of tea.
Chip, if you don't know what a troll is, you never venture far from
this newsgroup. A troll is someone who delights in conflict. It
absolutely DOES NOT MATTER who is right or wrong, a troll will
disagree, and continue to escalate the conflict until the other party
refuses to respond. If the thread continues long enough, and if the
troll believes he is *losing* the exchange, he will enlist the help of
other trolls he's friends with, and initiate more malicious
internet-related things like hacking your end of the network,
denial-of-service attacks, etc.... I suppose bodily harm might enter
in there somewhere, but I've never heard of it happening (and some of
the other newsgroups trolls would definitely brag about it). An
accomplished troll will also cover his tracks thoroughly as far as
tracing him goes. Because of the way the tcp/ip protocol was designed,
being untraceable can be easily accomplished...
>
>Whether or not you build a fractal antenna is up to you. I certainly do not
>feel you should do so because I 'want' you to. You should do it because Corry
>'wants' to.
Perfectly put. Best of luck to you Chip, and PLEASE.... Thicken up
that skin of yours...
73,
Jim
N3TKD/5
BTW- your last sentence in hilarious.- good job!
Bill- W4BSG
>Why haven't some of you absolutely rabid Fractenna-raggers (and there
>are a number of you) built one, evaluated it, compared it in ANY sort
>of comparison with ANYTHING and then posted the results here.
What makes you think no one ever has? I've built several of Chip's
designs--going back over 3 years ago, and so have others. Why don't you build
a few and evaluate them for yourself? If you're competent and evaluate them
carefully, you'll be able to draw your own conclusions and transcend the
rhetoric.
Rick K1BQT
No; I am not aware of these destructive 'trolls' and most certainly am not
one:-) If you check, you will see that this is the predominant NG to which I
have posted through the years.
None of the individuals you refer to has built any but the simplest of antenna
designs I have published in the ham magazines in the last few years. The FQY is
not in that category.
You know, there is another side of this: e-mail. I get lots of e-mail from
people who are fed up with the rantings on this NG --but want to know more
about fractal antennas. I help them when I have time, and also steer them
towards references, lists, and so on. In other words, the malcontents treat
this NG like its a private bulletin board, when, in fact, it is a widely read
--global-- medium. They have no idea who the readership is, and act as if they
don't exist.
I, for one, have deep respect for the curiosity and smarts of the people who
read this NG, and their questions and growth gives me a very good feeling.
Vy 73 OM!
Chip N1IR
Well, go ahead and discuss said accomplishments and motivations if you wish.
I am a firm believer of 'say what you mean and mean what you say'. Tell us how
I have been otherwise.
73,
Chip N1IR
How weird.
Moon must be full.
Hello Tom,
You using several different news accounts or something? Your
origination headers are vastly different in your various postings....
>Jim- you are incredibly naive about both the accomplishments and
>motivation of the dear chipper. He IS well known, internationally, but
>the reputation is not neccesarily for technical achievement.
>
>BTW- your last sentence in hilarious.- good job!
>
Hmmmm..... Could be.... The post was only prompted by my past personal
relationships with "ivory tower" academic personalities (in-laws and
other relatives), and how these people behaved on occasion.
Oh, for the days of fidonet, and feeds being cut because of wasted
bandwidth!
73's,
Jim
N3TKD
>Jim- you are incredibly naive about both the accomplishments and
>motivation of the dear chipper. He IS well known, internationally, but
>the reputation is not neccesarily for technical achievement.
>
>BTW- your last sentence in hilarious.- good job!
>
>Bill- W4BSG
>
Well Bill, I apologize to the group... I've never taken a complete
look at the headers of the various posters in these threads before
tonight. At first glance, it appears Chip may be the troll here, as
the Fractenna messages take quite a complex route before being posted.
Cohendog's messages take a similar route with a change I've seen
before. Guess I'll have to take a look at the next one I see Phil
posting and see how it compares...
Jim
N3TKD
>Well Bill, I apologize to the group... I've never taken a complete
>look at the headers of the various posters in these threads before
>tonight. At first glance, it appears Chip may be the troll here, as
>the Fractenna messages take quite a complex route before being posted.
>Cohendog's messages take a similar route with a change I've seen
>before. Guess I'll have to take a look at the next one I see Phil
>posting and see how it compares...
>
>Jim
>N3TKD
Cohendog, Chip, Nathan Cohen pHd, Beth, Hy, Phil, Jay-pole and a few
other all have the same AOL routing, although the path to Internet
from AOL varies.
As a matter of fact, Phil posts only through the Fractenna AOL screen
name...which is the same as Chip's, Hy's, Beth's, Nthans, and the rest
screen name.
Frankly, I was amazed to see someone who supports "Chip's" behavior
(you) who does not come from the same AOL routing.
>Cohendog, Chip, Nathan Cohen pHd, Beth, Hy, Phil, Jay-pole and a few
>other all have the same AOL routing, although the path to Internet
>from AOL varies.
>
>As a matter of fact, Phil posts only through the Fractenna AOL screen
>name...which is the same as Chip's, Hy's, Beth's, Nthans, and the rest
>screen name.
>
>Frankly, I was amazed to see someone who supports "Chip's" behavior
>(you) who does not come from the same AOL routing.
>
>
Also frankly, I am absolutely amazed that someone who is operating a
business can be exhibiting this bizarre behavior. I've known a couple
of strange PhD's, but nothing compares to this. I apologize to you for
another message speculating you might be the troll. Fractenna is now
in the kill file...
Jim
N3TKD
> James be carefull. Dr Fractenna thinks it is a real death threat
> to be in the kill file.
Then he has been massacred by the readers of this newsgroup.
Regards,
--
Tony - G3SKR / W2TG email: tg...@panix.com
I do remember your early efforts in that regard Mr. Gold, but to quote Elton
John: "I'm Still Standing". In fact, we've seen a rather refreshing abence of
abuse in the last few days. Did you feel obligated to continue the abuse
instead?
I can see efforts of recent days will have to be brought to closure.
NC
> >Then he has been massacred by the readers of this newsgroup.
>
> I do remember your early efforts in that regard Mr. Gold, but to quote Elton
> John: "I'm Still Standing". In fact, we've seen a rather refreshing abence of
> abuse in the last few days. Did you feel obligated to continue the abuse
> instead?
I observed that many people have kill-filed you. I believe that is
accurate, and also I believe that it was expressed politely.
Would Dr. Cohen care to define "abuse", if he sees any in my postings?
I saw your attempt to define "plane" in another thread and you failed
badly with that word. And there again, I believe that what I wrote
was both accurate and polite, although I'll be happy to hear if and
why you disagree with my belief.
Regards,
--
Tony - G3SKR / W2TG email: tg...@panix.com
I did? See my response .
And there again, I believe that what I wrote
>was both accurate and polite, although I'll be happy to hear if and
>why you disagree with my belief.
>
Massacred implies 'wiped out'. In fact, there are a few vocal individuals who
have expressed their opinion by doing what you say.
However--
Again, this is NOT a private bulletin board. This NG is read by thousands of
people, a vast majority of which do not post.
I did a rough count last summer and had over 600 emails in 3 years from people
who had read my posts on the NG --but whose calls I never saw before.
I still get many, many emails--many from students--who have read the posts and
had questions.
Also, even if you exclude my responses, the aggregate fractal threads are
easily the most popular on this NG. So there is lots of interest, and you only
see a small fraction of it.
I hope we are entering a transition on this NG where it TRULY is a global media
for NEWS.I expect you share with me the expectation that private abuse,
harassment, and attack, are on their way out--''massacred' as you say:-)
73
Chip N1IR
> >I observed that many people have kill-filed you. I believe that is
> >accurate, and also I believe that it was expressed politely.
> >
> >Would Dr. Cohen care to define "abuse", if he sees any in my postings?
Please answer this question, as it related to my posting.
> Massacred implies 'wiped out'. In fact, there are a few vocal individuals who
> have expressed their opinion by doing what you say.
>
> However--
>
> Again, this is NOT a private bulletin board. This NG is read by thousands of
> people, a vast majority of which do not post.
>
> I did a rough count last summer and had over 600 emails in 3 years from people
> who had read my posts on the NG --but whose calls I never saw before.
>
> I still get many, many emails--many from students--who have read the posts and
> had questions.
>
> Also, even if you exclude my responses, the aggregate fractal threads are
> easily the most popular on this NG. So there is lots of interest, and you only
> see a small fraction of it.
That only means that you disagree with me about the extent of kill-
filing of your posts. Please explain why you found the posting, with
which which you and others are free to agree or disagree, abusive?
Is disagreeable the same as abusive in Fractenna-land?
That implies that skin in Fractenna-land grows as thin as a plane :-)
> That implies that skin in Fractenna-land
> grows as thin as a plane :-)
You're correct there Anthony. Frac needs attention
but he's easily hurt.
I'm humored by Chip's comment -
"the aggregate fractal threads are
easily the most popular on this NG"
Absolutely. Very popular. Of course they have
literally nothing to do with antennas.
lumpy ab0gd