The questions I have are:
#1- Can you damage a transmitter with the wrong antenna?
#2- Can you damage a transmitter with "too small" or "too big" of an antenna? (I am SURE you can with HIGH wattage like 100 or more...but fewer than 50?) Or too large of an antenna for small amount of power?
#3- Can you damage a transmitter with the wrong "wave length" antenna or will it just hinder performance.
#4- Does band make a difference? Like you CAN damage a FM transmitter with out an antenna but you will NOT on a UHF radio.
#5- Could you use a FM/AM car antenna as a "transmission" antenna for AM or even FM transmission?
I hope these are somewhat easy questions.
Just settling a friendly dispute.
Thanks!
Happy Holidays!
#1- Can you damage a transmitter with the wrong antenna?
A. ABSOLUTELY. See what Mike said above.
#2-Can you damage a transmitter with "too small" or "too big" of an antenna? (I am SURE you can with HIGH wattage like 100 or more...but fewer than 50?) Or too large of an antenna for small amount of power?
Too small or too big covers the first question. But don't confuse power with frequency. And lets clear up some things, "large" and "small" are too vague. If by size, you mean the LENGTH of the elements, this is a frequency dependent dimension, not a power dependent. Element length is a function of frequency. If by small or large you mean element diameter, then yes, a kilowatt of power transmitted into an antenna made of 22 gauge wire might result in a meltdown of both the antenna and the transmitter amplifier.
#3-Can you damage a transmitter with the wrong "wave length" antenna or will it just hinder performance.
This would be covered by being the "wrong antenna". The right antenna would solely be the antenna of the appropriate length for the frequency (i.e. wavelength/reciprocally) of operation, and made thick enough for the operating power...(which shouldn't be more than a few watts on CB BTW so it would be hard to make an antenna too "thin")
#4- Does band make a difference? Like you CAN damage a FM transmitter with out an antenna but you will NOT on a UHF radio.
#5- Could you use a FM/AM car antenna as a "transmission" antenna for AM or even FM transmission?
Put these two together for a reason. FM is not a band first of all, neither is AM. They are modulation types. For instance, you can very well, and most likely DO, have a UHF FM radio. FM is the customary voice mode on UHF. However, it doesn't HAVE to be. Antennas have nothing to do with modulation types. Modulation type is not frequency dependent (well not scientifically or electronically speaking but perhaps legally they are)...Being not frequency dependent, there is no such thing as an FM antenna.
However, certain modulation types customarily adopt certain POLARIZATIONS for antennas. For instance, FM is generally vertically polarized while AM and sideband can be either/or. This is only a convention, though, and not a requisite of operation.
BTW, I would thoroughly encourage you to read up on radio theory on legitimate AMATEUR RADIO websites and dedicated electronics websites that don't incorporate names like "Rubber Ducky's Intar-Net 'Lectronics Learnin' site" or some such.
I'm not saying a few Rubber Duckies and Mud-duckers out there don't know a thing or two about radio, but if you spend more than a minute or two listening to or reading their CB material, you stand a chance of getting a whole lot of misleading CRAP and flat out wrong information. You'll also pick up on a lot of lingo that is mind numbing. You don't sound like a present day CBer but I'm just forwarning you about the pittfalls.