Topband: Monopole Elev Pattern w.r.t. Earth Conductivity

[Tom W8JI]

> Qualitative or Quantitative...Let me get this straight.  If I call CQ 
> and the band is open to Europe on 160 and nobody replies after a couple 
> of hours with my TX antenna #1 with no replies and after switching to 
> antenna #2 I work a dozen stations in rapid succession, that should tell 
> me something.  

Yes. It will tell you one or more of the following:

1.) The band opened
2.) Distant noise dropped
3.) Someone spotted you
4.) People woke up from a nice sleep
5.) One of the antennas was much worse than the other


>A good way to test a TX antenna is to listen to one of 
> the many SDR receivers available on line and you can her the A/B results 
> for yourself without the G5RV effect. 

That's true, but it has to be done over time and on multiple nights.