desmopedro
New Member
Can you do damage to a transmitter if you have an antenna that is "too small" or the "wrong band" or length?.
I hope that is not a stupid question, but I had a discussion with a friend that I was under the assumption that if you had an antenna that was too small for a certain amount of wattage that you could damage a transmitter.
I used to goof around with CB radios as a kid and I thought I remembered you NEEDING the correct size antenna or else you may damage the transmitter.
How this came about was he was working with a VHF radio base that was used used to talk to people around an apartment complex. It was taken out of service a while back (They used Cell phones..Nex-Tel) and he was testing it by "dry keying" (That's what I remember it being called) it with out an antenna on the base station and a small hand held close by to see if he could hear his transmission. (They may hook up the system again to save money.)
He stated it didn't matter and no damage would be done.
So...I thought I would ask.
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!
I hope that is not a stupid question, but I had a discussion with a friend that I was under the assumption that if you had an antenna that was too small for a certain amount of wattage that you could damage a transmitter.
I used to goof around with CB radios as a kid and I thought I remembered you NEEDING the correct size antenna or else you may damage the transmitter.
How this came about was he was working with a VHF radio base that was used used to talk to people around an apartment complex. It was taken out of service a while back (They used Cell phones..Nex-Tel) and he was testing it by "dry keying" (That's what I remember it being called) it with out an antenna on the base station and a small hand held close by to see if he could hear his transmission. (They may hook up the system again to save money.)
He stated it didn't matter and no damage would be done.
So...I thought I would ask.
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!