I have modeled a 30 meter dipole, a Delta loop and a Quad loop (the loops
'hung' in a vertical plane). I have also spent hours reading various posts
and web articles on the 2 loop antennas. I am trying to better my situation
on 30 meters, my favorite band. Currently I have a dipole at about 38 feet,
which is as high as I can go with the top wire and the trees that I use are
no more than 48 feet apart (the dipole fits comfortably). I also have a wire
vertical with 16 radials which gets dismantled when grass cutting season
starts, it probably will go back up next fall. According to EZNEC, the Quad
loop is a little better than the Delta loop which is a bit better than the
dipole, but not by much. I did try a half square, and it seemed to work well
on transmit, but it was as noisy as the vertical on receive. The dipole is
nice and quite on receive, as it should be. The HS lasted 3 days before the
dipole went back up.
I've never used either loop but I did at one time use the inverted L loop.
It worked OK, but was also noisy on receive and I probably lost an S unit
due to low gain. The dipole seems to be the best antenna I've tried under my
circumstances so far, but I sure would like some opinions on the 2 mentioned
loops: Is either noticeable better than a dipole? Which one and why? Are
both nosier (important) than a dipole ( both vertical hung,bottom fed apex
down on the Delta loop and the Quad loop fed in the center of the bottom
wire)? Should I just stick with the dipole and spend my efforts elsewhere?
With the 48 feet between trees and my maximum height of 38 feet, is there
anything better I could try?
I KNOW what the modeling programs say, but I don't always believe them and
I am looking for PRACTICAL experience and personal opinions on the above 3
antennas. As it sits, I'm inclined to let well enough alone and stick with
the simple dipole, unless I can be convinced otherwise.

Thanks...
--

***** Jim Leder *****
IBM retiree since 1999
http://home.fuse.net/k8cxm