This is a picture of one of our antennas on Jade Relay 2. It looks like a TV antenna mostly because we operate on the same frequencies as American TV. But in fact it is quite different. We can operate in some 300 frequencies and because of this and the need to get the maximum effort out of our equipment we tune the antenna to the specific frequency we will operate on. The antenna is adjustable in the distance between the three elements depending on the frequency. In addition each element is adjustable in its width also depending on the frequency.

This increases the power by setting up the proper RF wave being sent and received. Also the placement of the antennas is most important. Antennas must not interfere with each other by blocking the sight of each other. Height can be important depending on how far you must go and the height of the mountains and obstructions in the path to the other stations. However the higher you go the more danger you have when there is wind and especially sleet. On the 90-mile shot to Wonson we use the maximum 55-foot height. Sometimes we use a height of just 5 feet. On the 55-foot antenna there are 12 sets of guy ropes, three on each quadrant.     Hi-Res Pic (70K)