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LF
Well it seems some are of the opinion that the problem is
not Antennas but increased environmental noise and Seasonal
conditions.
Others say that a small antenna for RX es Grabbers is
better than nothing. I disagree with this logic because the displayed signals
are not what one is expecting and at worst the signal is not visible at
all.
While environmental noise varies and can be a problem and
Seasonal changes effect signal propagation I still think poor RX antennas are
the main problem.
In the past I was able to work OH1TN to the North East and
IK5ZPV and other Italian stns to the South Daily ie all day long as well as
night time on normal CW and average reports were 579 SUMMER as well as winter.
At present with my same antenna and TX, several hundred watts I am not
visible on the majority of EU grabbers DAYTIME even in QRS3 let alone
CW.
Using conventional inv L antennas at my
QTH I am able to observe on screen and audio all those that TX on 137
Khz.
There are instances were some EU transmissions are
not visible on EU grabbers although I can see/hear and work them from
here.
My conclusion is that all the technology and effort
that has gone into setting up good Grabbers and Receiver systems is
being let down by POOR ANTENNAS.
Some time back I tried a commercial high spec loop
antenna/amplifier and it was inferior by 2 to 3 S points in
the optimum direction compared to my inv L system, therefore receiving a S3
signal on the inv L would not be visible/audible on the loop and probably
the same applies to the probe type antenna.
It has been pointed out by others also that years ago
the older receivers worked better for commercial world wide communications
because in my experience they had proper large antennas ie Rhombics, V - Beams
and Beverages, and Radio Amateurs had similar antennas scaled down in
some cases. There was also an abundance of skilled Radio Operators that
could handle any situation, a scarce commodity today.
In todays communications world Amateur Radio has
become a convenience hobby, manipulator of Black Boxes, mobile phones and
Internet.
Let us have your observations
73 de Mal/G3KEV
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