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
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