<It's all about noise on both ends of the QSO> Oh you're dead right Jim. That's the biggest problem these days.
I have made sure that there is nothing in my own house that produces noise (by turning off the mains). And I have had OFCOM out 3 times over recent years to track down offending noisy equipment in neighbours' houses that was giving me a very high noise level. However, the general noise level EVERYWHERE here in Britain is around S7 these days - that's on 160m 80m & 40m. That's in an SSB Bandwidth, and with an accurate S Meter. And because the noise comes from every direction, no phasing unit or directional receiving aerial will help reduce it. Anyone who says they have a lower noise level these days probably has an inaccurate S Meter, or else they live over 10 miles from any other houses or overhead power lines ! I know this because I operate 160m mobile, and have only twice ever found a location where the noise dropped to around S3 ! Roger G3YRO _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
