Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ-Radio
What would be the main symptom of an impedance mismatch, in regards to receiving only? In other words, would reception be extremely poor, non existent or would you just lose some gain? I know that SWR is a concern in transmitting but I assume for only receiving it's not an issue - or is it?
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We normally only refer to SWR in regards to a transmitter setup. In a receiver setup a significant impedance mismatch will translate to a reduction in performance. In this case the outer shield of your coax is actually now part of your antenna, meaning that the corresponding design frequency is out the window and the system will resonate on something other than what you had intended.
So to answer more specifically you are noticing that the antenna DOES work, however the performance is not as good as expected. Would correcting the mismatch improve things? I believe it would, however like I've said we can't discount other factors such as distance, topography etc. between you and the transmitter sites. I guess we would need another reference antenna to determine the performance of this antenna. Some folks will argue that a match isn't all that critical and can back that up with thier own personal experiences. Have you ever used anything else that you can compare with ie. a disone?