I've been attempting (since the 2020 lockdown in fact) to get back on the radio-waves. Somehow something always keeps me from making the last mile. At this point of time, it is the Antenna. Living out of a suitcase from one room in the ground floor - I can not put up a suitable antenna.
The paragraph above makes it appear that an antenna is a complicated affair; it isn't. At the same time it is important to specify that 'antenna' really means 'antenna system'. This means there are multiple participants in an antenna system. Ensuring these participants perform in lock-step makes the difference between hearing a radio station, and not. One of these things is something called antenna impedance. Traditionally, radio transmitters have an impedance of 50 ohms. For a signal to be transmitted effectively & efficiently, the antenna system too must exhibi the same impedance.
A good example would be ,marrying a hose-pipe with a well-pump. If the hose-pipe is not of adequate diameter, the joint may not survive the pumping operation. If the hose-pipe is too broad, the water it transports may not reach the destination. So it is important the antenna system impedance match the impedance of the transmitter. This matching action is done by devices such as Transmission Line Transformer, Antenna Tuner so on...
But here's the bit, the antenna impedance is measured between the centre-point, and ground. Now since the impedance is akin to resistance (but more complex as it includes reactance), it may be worked the same way as resistance. Impedance may be put in series, and parallel to arrive at differing values. So it comes about that instead of a TLT, can an antenna be matched by placing a resistor of suitable value in parallel at the feed-point of the radiating element? Think.... Think ...
