I agree with Tom's assessment.  I wouldn't be too quick to give up on your 
tx 4 square.  Having  a tx 4 square, a 1/4 wave vertical, and an 8 circle rx 
array, I find the 4 square really does hear quite well.  My man made ambient 
noise level is quite low (during daytime hours when the atmospheric noise is 
quiet, I see virtually no manmade noise).  In my circumstances the 4 square 
tx array will dig down and hear those very weak signals (say -115 or -120 
dbm, or even less) that the 8 circle array sometimes cannot hear due to the 
comparatively small size and capture area of the elements (mine are 26'). 
While the RDF of the 8 circle is better than the 4 square, when the 
atmosphere quiets down as temps drop and you become less noise limited, RDF 
is not such an important factor and you may well benefit from the gain of 
the tx 4 square array. . .both tx and rx.  If, on the other hand, the 
atmospheric noise at your latitude does not drop significantly, the extra 
RDF of the 8 cir may be of some benefit.
73. . .Dave
W0FLS
 ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom W8JI" <w8ji@w8ji.com>
To: "topband" <topband@contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2012 6:38 AM
Subject: Re: Topband: RX epiphany?
 
 Doesn't 90 days seem a little short to get a feel for propagated noise and 
system performance?
 
 
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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
 
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