"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
. com...

Jim Kelley wrote:

There is absolutely no reason to believe that one antenna is less
responsive to charged particle noise than the other.


What about all the web references that say precipitation
static can be decreased by insulating the antenna from
the charged particles in the air?

I refuse to take responsibility for the things other people say. :-)

Think about it. A charged particle hitting a bare wire
will likely transfer a charge. A charged particle hitting
an insulated wire may or may not transfer a charge depending
upon the insulation.

Consider the nature of dielectric materials. I could be wrong, but I
bet if you stuck a negative oxygen ion on the outside of a jacketed
conductor, you could make the conductor inside think you had put an
electron directly on it.

After all, air is an insulator. A charged particle missing
the antenna entirely is in contact with that air insulator.

And air, which is an insulator, is also in contact with a bare wire
antenna - presumably 'insulating' it. The difference is one of
density (and dielectric constant).

I suppose if you set up a big electric or magnetic field in the proper
orientation, you could make a lot of the ions go away from an antenna.
But controlling plasmas is kinda like herding cats.

73, ac6xg