I picked one of these up because it's received really solid reviews
from a lot of people. So far I have been using it on the tropical bands
and I have to say I'm disappointed. At my location (Brooklyn) its
performance is consistently inferior to that of my LF Engineering H-800
"Skymatch" and Wellbrook ALA-330S loop (which isn't really at its best
on the tropical bands).

I have to believe that there's something about my location or setup
that prevents the mini-whip from realizing its full potential. Although
lots of people complain about its being a noisy antenna, I don't find
it to be any more prone to noise pickup than the H-800. While I found
its performance to lag behind that of the H-800, I'd say it was
comparable to some of the other active whips I've used over the years.
For the money, it's still a good value, but I frankly cannot imagine
this antenna being competitive with a beverage antenna or large scale
loop.

And yet....plenty of credible people report that the mini-whip IS
competitive in this field.

What can I say? I just report on what I find in my tiny little corner
of the universe.

Steve