Cobwebb update

After constructing the cobwebb I conducted a non scientific comparison between it and my hustler 6-BTV. Firstly it ought to be said that the cobwebb was lashed together in a couple of hours using as much stuff as I had laying around the garage. The time constraint was a result of my kids being at a birthday party and the XYL giving me 'time off' for good behaviour and as soon as they returned it was likely to decend into locking the door away and getting back to family things (Not strictly come off it I might add).

The vertical is quite clearly a more noisey antenna. Whilst it is an s point or two above the cobwebb there is a clear difference in the s/n ratio by ear. I put the lowered s points down to extremely thin wire used (Single strand bell wire that I use as hook up wire) and not much attention to detail on the connection front. I suspect that thicker wire and a higher quality construction, i.e. more time spent measuring and cutting, would significantly improve the signal quality and therefore the usefulness of the antenna. It allows a decode of the same rtty signal as the vertical but with clearly a lower signal.

One of the concerns I had was that the antenna was going to be too large to fit into my loft and that it would be difficult to fit. This was fortunately not the case and even after constructing it in my garage, dismantling it and walking up the stairs, through the small loft hatch, clambering over all the 'useful' things we have in the loft I still managed not to put my foot through the ceiling ;-)

So what next?

Well I'll definitely be making a proper version of this. Generally for portable use but also as a back up in the loft for the beacon monitoring station. I've already though of how to improve it for my qth and use. All in all time well spent, both for educational purposes and for getting a better portable antenna for when I'm up in Scotland.