Let's agree to disagree. It is not. I can send you a long list of station around me, down here is Broward County , Fort Lauderdale FL, just mentioning a few friends Peter N8PR. Ron W4BP. Scott W4SO. We were around 120 to 150 worked countries on 160m back on 2004. The RX antennas was mainlining EWE.s EWE';s in phase, When I upgrade my tower form 80FT to 120FT, all my RX antennas stopping working. I took a hit and figure it out, I needed to detune the tower. At the same time I built a Vertical Waller Flag. In the first year I reach 200 and in few more years 250. All my local friends, here in the same location did not hear the weak signals like my station and they did not move up on the 160m DXCC, not even close to 170 countries on 160m. The average here is 150 countries worked on 150m for a good station. I am not the only one 160m DXer in Florida, most of them are still below 200 countries in 160 after 30 or 40 years in the band. All of us are in the same location. You can go to ARRL list and find 100's of station in Florida but only 3 above 300's on 160m. N4WW Austin is in the band for 50 years. Doug NX4D and I less than 15 years, All is Florida On 160m the MUF is always good, the signal always arrive, the issue is signal to noise ratio. A good RX antenna have a directivity of 10 to 12 db RDF, a TX vertical 5 to 6 db RDF, the difference is 5 to 6 db. I measured signal to noise for decades, for each 1 db improvement in RDF, you gain 2 db on signal to noise ratio, so a good vertical RX antenna can hear 10 db better than a TX antenna, the HWF because the polarization filter can hear 20 db better them my TX antenna. Signal to noise ratio in your station! That is the secret, You can work the weak signal your neighbor can not if your care about keep the patter clean on your RX antenna, not the RDF in the paper, the one in your back yard. YES, l you can reduce the noise on your own RX antenna, RDF is the key, but if you allow the TX antenna interact with your RX antenna, you are deteriorating the patter and never experience the RDF improvement , because the actual RDF is reduced. You end up hearing the reflected signal from your TX antenna into your RX antenna and no gain in signal to noise can be achieved. This is not because your location, it is because the way you assembly your station. If you want to try it, check my presentation on World Wide Radio Operators Foundation
https://wwrof.org/webinar-archive/n4is-waller-flag-construction/ https://wwrof.org/webinar-archive/high-performance-rx-antennas-for-a-small-l ot/ High Performance RX Antennas for a Small Lot. It not just a concept it is a proved concept with practical results! Don't tell my neighbors that they are in a fantastic 160m location, Florida used to be a black hole for low bands, and still is a black hole for most of us, if you don't detune your TX antenna, and all others cables 30 FT or longer. 73's JC N4IS -----Original Message----- From: Topband <topband-bounces+n4is=comcast....@contesting.com> On Behalf Of Jim Clymer Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2023 7:58 AM To: n...@comcast.net Cc: Jim Brown <j...@audiosystemsgroup.com>; topband <topband@contesting.com> Subject: Re: Topband: NCC-2 antenna pattern? Come on, JC... Even I know, YOU know what K9YC is talking about! After living in IN for 15 years, CA for 34 years, and VA for 10 years, with essentially the same station setup, over the long term, for success on TB, QTH is paramount. (detuned TX antennas notwithstanding) BTW: I like your initials! 73, Jim - WS6X On Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 9:26 PM <n...@comcast.net> wrote: > So you cannot detune a TX antenna in IL, just in Florida? > > JC > Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector > > > _________________ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband > Reflector > _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector