Gain - Often misunderstood by us all.

Antenna gain is used to indicate the increase in power of one antenna (when transmitting or receiving) as compared to another antenna. Gain is actually a ratio of power levels and is stated in decibels, often-abbreviated "db.� So how do we use this number? When using db gain to rate an antenna you must know what the reference antenna is! It is important to note that antennas are passive, they do not "amplify" signals (or effect transmitted audio levels!), and they merely re-distribute the power that they get to achieve gain. They have no effect on the "modulation" or audio quality of your radio! One antenna manufacture claims their beams "have the best modulation". This is plain silly, over imaginative advertising. (Jo-Gunn Antennas is one.) Now, knowing something about the dipole (one of the most basic antennas) we can use it to compare antennas. If someone said, it has "6db over a dipole" or "6db, reference antenna is a dipole, and�it would have meaning! Let us look at two radiation patterns at the same time, to see how one antenna achieves gain.

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Radio Waves just a note:

Waves do not have to be either horizontal or vertical. This is merely an arbitrary setup. Antennas are arranged like this so that others can orient their antennas in a similar matter. These terms horizontal and vertical are in reference to the earth�s surface, take away the ground, say go into outer space and these terms would have no meaning! This is why we arrange our antennas for either a horizontal or vertical polarization though. For instance, if the receiving antenna is receiving a signal that is not the same polarization of itself, then the signal may be reduced up to 20db (almost 7 times). That is compared to a signal with the same polarization as the receiving antenna. Remember as our signals travel they usually reflect/bounce off objects, and the field can change polarization! So your signal may end up loud and clear to another station even if you are not using the same polarization as each other because the signal may be bouncing off some object (a water tower for example) that might be flipping the polarization before it gets to the other station! More people choose horizontal polarization for DXing because receiving using horizontal polarization is generally quieter. This is because most man made noises (interference) are vertically polarized. There is no proof that horizontal waves are better for "skip" signals. There is one special polarization known as Circular Polarization. It should be of special interest to antenna experimenters! As the signal travels it is spinning, not maintaining a set polarization. This is good because it helps reduces signal fade (QSB) and flutter during DX contacts. It can either be right handed or left handed circular polarization depending on which way its spinning (think of it spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise as it leaves the antenna