On Sun, 7 Nov 2010 01:46:03 +0000, Bajamatic
wrote:

Is this a suprising result? I kinda thought the active antenna would
outperform the wire.

You don't tell enough specifics to judge your experience. Frequency,
time of day, antenna orientation all play significant factors.

However, as you are going into a desert location (or at least a very
much less populated area), you are going to have less noise to contend
with, and less interfering signals (out of band signals like AM
stations can seriously de-sensitize your receiver). All this bodes
well for a simple wire antenna (and not necessarily goliath 100
footers). Any additional equipment would be an antenna tuner (a very
cheap version of what Ham radio operators use for transmitters - so
you won't need those power/SWR meters) and some form of ground - if
only another wire trailing along the ground.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC