wjm (02/13/83)
Phil Karn is right ... Any antenna that provides gain does so at the expense
of directionality. This is why those "ultra-fringe" models are VERY directional
and generally you have to use a rotator with them (unless every station you
listen to originates from the same point - like the master FM antenna on the
Empire State Building in New York which was used by >~12 stations at one time).
As I said earlier, The BIC Beam Box has negative gain relative to a dipole
and therefore will give disappointing results when used in suburban areas wher
the lack of signal strength is the problem. It works very well in cities where
there is plenty of signal and you're trying to get rid of multipath since it
is quite directional (note that directionality does NOT imply gain).
(Aside to Steve Bellovin ... Pardon me for using the net for a personal message
but since whuxk doesn't talk directly to your machine - I sent a copy of the
article you wanted to you via harpo - let me know if you didn't get it and
suggest a routing for mail.)
Bill Mitchell
Bell Laboratories - WH
(whuxk!wjm)