Comparing antennas with RBN

In my last posting about Reverse Beacon Network i suggested that those reverse becons could be used for antenna testing. Today I got a good reason to try it myself: I am preparing for a domestic contest on 80/40m bands. I have two antennas suitable for 40m:

• 80m delta loop, with a little bit odd dimensions: The "north" corner is up almost 30 meters and the "south" corner is only 10m up. The antenna is fed at the bottom, near ground, with a 1:4 balun. Pictures here.
• 1/4 wave GP, up 12m, in a tree. Solid copper pipe with three radials. Picture here.

So, which antenna is better for QSOs here in Finland? The theory suggests that verticals are good for DX and my loop antenna should have a high lobe, making it an antenna suitable for domestic QSOs.

I started calling CQ on 7.024 MHz using the gp antenna first. No-one answered me, but after a couple of CQs, the Reverse Beacon Network gave me a list of stations who heard me. I copied it to Excel, added locator, distance and bearing data (there are tools for that on the net, eg: http://dauda.at/locator/), formatted the table to look nicer :) and copied here:

ANT: GP

Call	QRG	dB	Loc	Time	Km	Bearing
UA4NE	7022.1	10 dB	LO48UO	1224z 06 Apr	1444	86
OH8WW	7022.1	29 dB	KP24HP	1224z 06 Apr	487	2
RZ3DVP	7022.0	10 dB	KO85OU	1224z 06 Apr	906	117
LA5EKA	7022.0	15 dB	JO59EK	1224z 06 Apr	777	269
ES5PC	7022.0	14 dB	KO38HJ	1224z 06 Apr	149	146
DJ9IE	7022.1	15 dB	JO31VN	1224z 06 Apr	1402	234
US0KW	7022.0	15 dB	KO30OO	1224z 06 Apr	1091	169
OH6BG	7022.0	27 dB	KP03SD	1224z 06 Apr	349	337
RN3A	7022.0	16 dB	KO85NU	1224z 06 Apr	902	117
SK3W	7022.0	18 dB	JP80JH	1224z 06 Apr	409	274
DR1A	7022.0	9 dB	JO31CQ	1224z 06 Apr	1463	237
OL5Q	7022.0	11 dB	JO60VI	1224z 06 Apr	1281	215
DL1EMY	7022.0	16 dB	JO31GE	1224z 06 Apr	1489	235
				Avg dist (km):	934,54

OK, then the same test with the loop antenna.  The frequency has to be changed a bit, so that the stations make a new measure. The results are here:
ANT: LOOP

Call	QRG	dB	Loc	Time	Km	Bearing
OH8WW	7024.0	33 dB	KP24HP	1226z 06 Apr	487	2
US0KW	7024.0	21 dB	KO30OO	1225z 06 Apr	1091	169
RN3A	7024.0	10 dB	KO85NU	1225z 06 Apr	902	117
OH6BG	7024.0	38 dB	KP03SD	1225z 06 Apr	349	337
SK3W	7024.0	18 dB	JP80JH	1225z 06 Apr	409	274
RZ3DVP	7024.0	15 dB	KO85OU	1225z 06 Apr	906	117
LA5EKA	7024.0	12 dB	JO59EK	1225z 06 Apr	777	269
ES5PC	7024.0	21 dB	KO38HJ	1225z 06 Apr	149	146
				Avg dist (km):	633,75

Interesting stuff was found in the tables:

• Local stations seem to be stronger with the loop antenna. 
• The gp was heard by many more long-distance stations

This is according to the theory, right? The GP seems to cover europe better than the loop, but I am not 100% sure about all directions yet since the bearings are not analysed. 


[Edited 13.April 2012:] Later I found the station map from the site...very much like the pskreporter map, very useful!