Reception on Eighty Meters

[AG4DR]

Hi Folks

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestion on improving 80 meter reception.  I am running a gap titan vertical, Icom 756pro. The station is ground though 4 ground rods. The noise level is around S9. I have recieved reports that my tranmisions are very good.

Thanks
Ray AG4DR

[KA1DBE]

That is just ol' mother earth saying hello.....summertime static crashes are wonderful.....I use an audio filter to help out the situation but it only helps, doesn't cure.  I have always heard that verticals are more prone to noise than horizontals but I don't know if there is any truth to that old wives tale or not.  (I use a Hustler 6-BTV myself!)  Winter will be here soon and the noise will calm down a little.  Till then....Best 73's....

[KA1DBE]

BTW, you might try using a seperate receiving antenna, such as a small shielded loop.  I have heard that that will cut down on some of the noise.  Good luck

[WB2WIK]

A high noise level during the summertime on 80m is totally normal.  If I don't have an S9 noise level on 80, especially in the summer months, I wonder if my antenna is connected!  

However, it does pay to be sure that the noise you're receiving is all really summer static and not locally generated.  You can't do much about our natural QRN (lightning static, solar noise, etc.) but you can surely take actions to reduce man-made noise (sometimes), and this bears investigation.

I am also currently using a vertical antenna and cannot wait to get a horizontal loop up for operating 80m this coming winter!  I, too, have found a horizontal loop is usually a lower-noise antenna (for receiving) and I, too, am tired of having stations on 80m tell me that I'm loud and clear when I can hardly hear them!

73 de Steve WB2WIK/6

[K3UOD]

I ran a B&W broadband folded dipole for a while and found that it had a much lower noise level than a regular dipole.  Unfortunately, it didn't transmit well below 7MHz (above 7MHz it worked great).

You could build a home brew version for receive only for a fraction of the cost. See

http://www.cebik.com/wbfd.html

Or, if you have the room, build a loop 70 ft on a side.  That will allow transmission as well as reception and will have a much lower noise level than the vertical.

[W2WDX]

Well...

I would bet most of your noise is due to polarization. As far as noise is concerned, vertical polarization is the worst way to go.

Using a dipole will reduce noise substacially, but one of the lowest noise antennas I have used is a horizontal full wave loop. A great omni-directional horizontal receiving antenna. Mine is at around 35' and I can hear mostly everything, since my noise floor is very low.

John