In a multiple band antenna like a spider dipole the signal will load the element closest to the resident frequency. My question is which element(s) will take the power if none of the elements are close to the band I'm operating on. For instance, I have a spider dipole with elements for 40, 20, and 10 meters. I can use an antenna tuner to match the feed line to 1:1 SWR on 17 Meters. Which element is radiating the signal? The the 40 meter eliment can be used on 15 meters, so 17 meters will present about same mismatch between the 20 and 40 meter elements. Dose the power split between the two, all flow to the nearest match, or raidate across the entire antenna. I supose the same question applies to anything with traps in it. Anyone ever work out the math on this? |