Base Vertical vs Horizontal mount

[TheRATT]

Hello!

I understand a little about what happens when you mount an antenna horizontally vs vertically, I think... but I'll ask you guy!

I just mounted a 102" Hustler whip at my QTH (I have a couple different antennas but this seems to work best for me). On a whim, I mounted it horizontally first.

The normal bunch of guys on 27.405LSB couldn't tell the difference. I always thought one would lose a bit of signal for running a different polarity but as far as I can tell, all things seem equal. The people I talk to are 5-20 miles away in the greater Seattle area.

Any input on why I should mount it one way or another?

 

[BJ radionut]

I guess we should ask how is mounted...on a pole?...what about radials or counterpoise?
Pictures?
All the Best
Gary
PS: what did you have up before?
Also the normal group are they running verticals or Horz. beams?

 

[TheRATT]

It is mounted to a metal bannister whose posts are sunk deep into the ground! SWR 1.1:1.

My other antenna is a 11m end fed dipole. I'm getting the same reports and range/receive. I was under the impression I'd get less noise with it sitting horizontally.

 

[Road Squawker]

... I was under the impression I'd get less noise with it sitting horizontally.

As a general rule, that is correct.
The SNR should be higher

 

[BJ radionut]

Well what you have is a Inverted "L" which will have both Horizontal and Vertical radiation.
You must remember the railing and most likely your feedline is part of your antenna now.
I am guessing you had an End feed Half wave and not a dipole.
A dipole will have 2 wires of equal length(1/4 wave each)…and is Center Fed not End Fed.
So depending on how the End fed was set-up...you could have a similar pattern being radiated.
So just a thought. The dipole to be Horizontal needs to be flat top, that's where you will get the noise reduction.
However if you are trying to work stations running vertical antennas, your signal could be down as much as 20db due to polarity difference. Horizontal antennas normally work best for DX.
So something to think about.
All the Best
Gary