spray on antenna at Dayton HAMVENTION

[Phil]

I concur.

Considering the "thousands of experiments" (read: several) that they have done, the guy does a fantastic job of keeping as much science out of the discussion as possible. "Energy oozes into and out of this antenna like a sponge." Where does the mystical 15-20 dB gain come from? Are wire antennas really that inefficient? (Maybe, but do "millions of capacitors" solve that problem when modelled theoretically?) Conducting paints are not new. Is this silver dag? Powdered protactinium dissolved in snake oil? Does anyone know of a patent application by these people? Why the insistence on capacitive coupling (EKG electrodes are non-conducting at the surface, by the way)?

I also wanted to attend this talk with Frank but couldn't find out when it was scheduled. If the guy giggled less and scienced more, I'd be more readily convinced. But a set of decent scientific experiments with results would have had far more impact than a few humorous anecdotes.

When you finally get hold of the spray, Frank, send me a sample for analysis, will ya?

Phil M1GWZ





On 28 Jun 2012, at 14:21, Dan Romanchik KB6NU wrote:

> This company's been flogging this for a while. They even made a Wall St. Journal blog (http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/02/10/spray-on-antenna-unveiled-at-google-event/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=). What doesn't compute for me is that they never reveal how they discovered this miracle, spray-on material. Also, I find it a bit difficult to believe that wire antennas are so inefficient that antennas made with this material would show such a big difference in signal strength.  And, if this stuff is so great, why aren't they selling it, so that hams and others can start making antennas with it? 
> 
> I put this company and the fractal antenna guy in the same boat.
> 
> 73!
> 
> Dan KB6NU
>> 
>> On 6/27/12 9:26 PM, fgentges at mindspring.com wrote:
>>> Somewhere I heard that they would be making the presentation at 10 AM on Saturday.  I went over and there was a list for the days presentations at the ARRL place.  This presentation was not at 10 AM or at any other time.
>>> 
>>> Having looked at the video I do not find any solid information on what this stuff is and why it should work.  He makes a lot of claims but in the end, I am yet to be convinced.
>>> 
>>> Frank K0BRA