I apologize if I ticked anyone off; I'm just trying to help hams understand what is needed to get out. This is not directed at any one person. The topic came up and I have an opinion based on experience with what works and what doesn't.
If you put up a cloud burner one or more of three things happen: 1. Some guy who can't hear you comes on what sounds like a clear frequency and calls CQ on top of you. If you are okay with that then no problem. But with the elevated noise floor, it is more and more important to do what you can to be audible. The kinds of setups that were FB 50 years ago often don't make the nut now because in many locations 10 dB or more of noise has to be overcome. Hams in other than rural QTHs simply cannot eliminate all of the noise sources. They can null some out but they can not get the noise floor back to like it was in 1970. That ship has sailed. Another characteristic of medium wave is long deep QSB fades. That has to be overcome with power and a good antenna. 2. You hear a big signal and call. No answer, or "Sri OM vy poor copy try later es 73" because there is not reciprocity between tx and rx with a single antenna on medium wave like there is on HF. 3. You may swear up and down you only want to work locals with your cloud burner but I'd be rich if I had a buck for every ham who calls me from 500 miles away with a "local" antenna. I would like to have a QSO but spending an hour digging out a signal is not my idea of a good time. But, an inverted L has some cloud burner property owing to part of the antenna being horizontal. You can have your cake and eat it too. By the way, I am on a 50 x 100 foot lot in a small city. Antennas are inverted L with 101 radials, many > 50 feet long and an InLogis Pixel Loop antenna. 73 Rob K5UJ _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
