[Lowfer] MP-WA-VD-TMO

[John Andrews]

Bill,

> Shame on you John Andrews! :(  I'm sure you know that the 'distance' is
not
> the determining factor in the the strength of a skywave signal -
especially
> for that 180 to 250 mile range (as is Mike's distance to you)?

Ooohhh, did I hit a nerve? I guess it's a good thing that Mike's loop has
all that extra high angle radiation, or I'd never hear him!

> Fact is TMO
> was beating the pants off MP last night for strength at my base, 220 miles
> away from TMO - maybe +20db on average! (Sorry Mitch, no reflection on job
> well done)

Did you ever stop to think that Mitch might not have been wearing pants at 2
A.M.? And that 20 dB figure sounds kind of vague. You did keep a log of the
signal strengths, right?

> I'd want to see the value of Mitch's antenna current at a 1w input (then
> calculate the ERP) before making any judgments on which antenna is the
best
> match for his back yard.

Mitch: use a recently calibrated thermocouple meter, not some cheap thing
with diodes and donuts. And get the calibration certificate notarized. <g>

John A.