Hi,

Have finally gotten back into hobby, now that I am retired.

Have been reading the ARRL books, a bit, again, and realize I'm still quite
confused over the antenna pattern diagrams they show for the various types.

a. What is plotted in these diagrams; the H field, the E field, or the
resultant of the two ?

b. When they talk about field strength, what do they mean ? Again, the H
field, or... ?

c. Have a receive-only antenna running around the 4 sides of my attic. Open
at the end.
Should I tie the end to the beginning, making a horizontal loop up
there, or not ?
Why ?

d. Do listening only, from 0 to 30 MHz, and from all compass points.

Would a straight run of wire along one side (thus foresaking the
lengths provided by the other 3 sides)
gain me anything, or is the square loop configuration probably the best
overall compromise
for pulling stuff in ?

e. Tried to find some but couldn't.
Any pix/diagrams on the web showing the lobe patterns as a function of
frequency for:

a single random-length wire
a 4 sided loop, open at the end, like I now am using
a 4 sided loop, closed at the end

Thanks,
Bob