Sterba antenna

Before the HRS antenna became the default design for high power broadcasting in the 1950s, Sterba curtains were used.

Sterba curtains are modest-gain single-band curtain array antennas. They are named after Ernest J. Sterba, who developed a simple shortwave curtain array for Bell Labs in the 1930s. Sterba curtain arrays are described in William Orr's Radio Handbook.

There are multiple feed arrangements for the Sterba curtain arrays, as with HRS type antennas. However, Sterba arrays provide a very limited gain-bandwidth system for the demands of modern shortwave broadcasting systems.

Sterba curtain arrays preceded HRS type antennas by less than a decade. Only about 1% of high power HF broadcasting antennas in use in the 2000s are Sterba type curtain arrays. It is expected that by 2020 that all Sterba type curtain arrays will have been decommissioned.

Amateur Radio operators do still build Sterba curtain arrays. It can be argued that since amateur radio transmissions only take place in narrow bands, then a Sterba array remains a decent solution for their needs.

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Wikipedia