Topband: Noise and reception

[W2pm@aol.com]

David - Re your post on (ill considered)critical comments of various antennas and the need to attract more low band ops, etc. I think what Tom, W8JI often says should be taken into serious consideration - that understanding the fundementals of what technical characteristic is associated with a certain result is the best approach as that will reduce the anecdotal, "snake-oil" effect. I am not a practicing EE any longer and don't have anywhere near the technical knowledge of some of the guru's here but I found myself saving lots of time, energy and money is taking the time to understand the principals - and in RX receiving issues there are many. I also do extensive Elmering to newbies and counsel them the same way - those that find my help too pedantic go away and I later find they go back to their true love hobbies like model RR, hunting or whatever.  The beauty of Topband is that to be successful one can't simply go to HRO and spend a few kilo$. So I deeply appreciate the well considered critical comments and discard the vacuous ones but it's interesting to note that rarely will see one of the guru's here dismiss something out-of-hand - they usually well position their concerns or doubts on the fundementals.  73