Topband: loops and half square antennas

[Jim]

Good afternoon to all, 
First I have never understood this fascination with loop antennas... full wave or not.  Unless they are put up vertically and even then they have to be feed at the correct spot (thanks for the education all those years ago Frank W3LPL) they just don't work DX very well.. in fact most loops I have ever used are cloud burners... again they have to be up pretty high and fed at the proper spot. 
  
Then the half square that I tried several years ago didn't work close to the "Inverted L" that  W3LPL talked me through in the very early 80's. 
In stead of all of this fancy stuff why not just get back to basics and go with what all the DXers have used for decades.  Now I gotta say the success that Guy Oliver (I think it was) with the FCP appears to work great.  I have heard several and I cant tell much difference from stations near them running the same power. 
  
Bottom line you cant cheat mother nature or said like Frank used to tell me ..."THERE IS NO SILVER BULLET" 
  
That's my story and I am sticking to it. 
  
Jim