While digging in the garbage looking for blackmail material, I found this:
It seems, on 13 Aug 96  03:52:32, that Scott Hoffman and All
were talking about Impedance Mismatch.
Now I have them!
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>I have NEVER ever seen a 300 --> 50Ohm transformer,
>does on even exist?
Yes. It's called a "6 to 1 Balun". It's a rather large piece of hardware
used for Amateur Radio antennas.  Don't worry about it.
>Does feeding the 75 Ohm input into the 50Ohm scanner
>input really make "that much" of a difference or is the difference
You'd have a 1.5 to 1 VSWR mismatch (75/50). That's next to nothing.
>Are antennas really 300 Ohms, I'm not sure I get this concept.. Couldnt
>I just splice my low-loss RG-8 50Ohm cable right onto the antenna
RG8?? WOW! That's doing it right! 
>without even using a 300-->75/50Ohm transofrmer?
You could, but then the mismatch would be 6 to 1 (300/50).
Scott, the only time you'll notice the "bad match" (maybe) is when you are
listening to a very very very faint station. With a "perfect" match it
might have been a little tiny bit louder (maybe but most likely not).
* VSWR = Voltage Standing Wave Ratio. A very (VERY) simple explaination:
The radio energy that is "bouncing back" between the antenna and
radio instead of being transmitted or received. Critical for transmitters.
No big deal for receivers unless you are a compulsive type person. 
Note to the net: Yes, I know SWR is more than just that simple calculation
that I used, but it's close enough for a guesstimate. :)
KG9EV
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