On 12/19/2010 5:08 PM, Joe from Kokomo wrote:

...

To anticipate your next response -- use of an attenuator -- will indeed
alleviate the problem. But just think for a minute: What is the point of
building a longer antenna to get a stronger signal that you are just
going to attenuate anyway.

Best regards and happy holidays,
Joe

On 12/19/2010 8:18 PM, John Smith wrote:

The larger antenna will simply pick up signals which the smaller antenna
cannot ... difficult concept, for some, it seems ...

Regards,
JS

Yes, you are right, it will pick up signals a smaller antenna will not.
On this we agree.

The "difficult concept" that *you* keep overlooking is that FOR THE
RECEIVER THE OP ASKED ABOUT, the front end of said receiver, is *not*
designed for a very long antenna.

If you have a communications receiver with good front end selectivity,
the longer antenna will indeed be better. However, that was *not* the
type of receiver the OP was asking about.

To summarize, in the *general* case, you are correct that a longer
antenna is better; in the *specific* case that the OP actually asked
about, longer is NOT better. You seem to keep addressing the general
case while I and others are actually addressing the OP's specific case.