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Which side of this dipole is ground? (programming.dev)

submitted 1 year ago by JackbyDev@programming.dev to c/amateur_radio@lemmy.radio

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My guess

The left sort of looks like the outside of the cable so I think that's ground.

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[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Let me rephrase (your answer may be the same). I know with some antennas there is a "ground plane" type of element that should be on the bottom. For a vertical dipole is this not the case?

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You do seem to be right. It should not matter in theory, but it may be better for the one connected to the center (right on this image) to be up.

For vertical polarization, in theory it does not matter which way around you orient the antenna as long as it's vertical. However in practice, you may get slightly better results by having the element connected to the center coax conductor pointing UP.

Source: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/using-our-new-dipole-antenna-kit/

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Weird that they don't elaborate. I flipped it last night and it seemed marginally better this way, so maybe there is some truth to it. Take this with a truck load of salt as it wasn't any sort of controlled experiment at all.