I had a 2 el quad up for 4 years – Very good limited space antenna and quiet. I worked many DX stations with it.

I built a Rhombic out of 17 gauge galvanized electric fence wire. 350 feet per leg – The antenna was 45 feet above the ground. Lets consider the lossy wire and lower height. By design it was a rhombic but not even close to a true Arctic Rhombic.My antenna was 5 s units quieter than quad on 20 meter band . It was much more quiet than G5RV-M at 70 feet. I never picked up noise from snow or rain storms. When I worked VU7RG on 20 meters I could not hear him on the quad. I went to my poor mans rhombic and they were loud and clear. Every day I would hear the VU7 Stations on the Rhombic and not the other antennas. I worked stations 80-17 meters with the Rhombic. I have tested many dipole antennas verses a G5RV-M or Extended Double Zepp. The antennas with more capture space always won in receive and transmit.

With my poor mans rhombic I heard and worked stations I never would have worked with the quad on 20 . Stations 40 -30 meters were 6 s units louder than dipole type antennas on the path I had the Rhombic pointed .Some days when I would go to the rhombic the bands were so quiet I would wonder if it was connected to radio.

If I had the space I would put a Rhombic up in every direction and forget about low gain beams.

My question to every one is how many towers and beams or quads have been destroyed by winds and ice? Would those antennas survive even one winter in Iceland? Rhombic antennas have proven they can withstand bad winds and ice storms.

73 Jim WB3CQM

1. The noise received on the LP sounds like a constant electrical discharge rather than from natural causes.

2. If it is a local source of noise, it may be very close to the LP antenna and could be picked up by the LP antenna´s feed line.

3. Both the LP and the Rhombic are balanced antennas. Are the Balun transformers on both antennas of equal quality? It is not unknown to dispense completely with a balun at an LP antenna´s feedpoint, perhaps this is the case? In that case, 30m of coax would readily pick up vertically polarized noise in the vicinity.

4. If the noise is coming from a certain direction, it might land in a deep null on the Rhombic by coincidence. This situation might be completely different if another Rhombic was selected.

All completely valid points which call for further investigation.
Obviously, there is a multitude of things that could be wrong with the LP antenna or in it´s vicinity.

Perhaps the LP antenna needs maintenance after all, or a local noise source need to be tracked down.

However, this has been my experience too in the tropics, constant S9 noise like ignition noise on all bands. Even in the Middle East this noise is constantly there.

But a Rhombic doesn´t seem to hear this noise at all, it is very quiet.

I used Rhombic antennas in Naqoura, South Lebanon and in Dili, East Timor.

The final words of my colleague hold true regardless:

”A Rhombic is not just about the gain, it is much more about the noise which you Dont Get…”