Radioreddz,
Easy part first, No, I'm not that "Doc". And now the 'other' part. Will changing height make an equal amount of difference as doubling the number of elements of an antenna? Sort of depends on where the thing is now, but not really. It will make a suprising amount of difference with what you will hear though If it's already at something like 50 feet or so, swap antennas. If it isn't close to that, and since height helps any antenna, it's still something to think about as an "instead of" thingy.
Quads tend to 'open' and 'close' bands when compared to 'stick' antennas (beams). Loop antennas tend to seem 'quieter' than non-loop antennas, and a two element quad tends to be comparable to a three element beam. (Lots of 'lee-way' in that but it tends to be true in most cases.)
POlarization can make a huge difference at times, but never consistantly, at HF. Having both, and being able to switch between them, is a very nice option. But that 'difference' depends entirely on propagation and changes all the time, mostly. When the band seems to fade out at one polarrization, switching to the other one can make it seem to open bak up, sometimes. And when the band goes 'dead' it won't matter what the polarization is. I tend to like horizontal polarization, not that it's consistantly 'better', but mechanically (and practically) it's an easier thing to contend with. Almost all man-made noise is vertically oriented. Until propagation plays a big part of it (distance), having the same polarization as the one you're listening to always helps.
Beam or single element antennas. Directional antennas will always have beter 'ears' than single element antennas in particular directions. Doesn't really matter what the particular antenna is, it's just the 'nature of the beast'.
Then there's the 'is it worth the trouble' thingy. There's just no absolute answer to that, too many 'depends' in that question. Sort of like sticking your finger in a light socket to see if there's electricity there. Half the time it's the easiest way to find out. The other half of the time you get bit. The absolute most bestest set up in one location can turn out to be an absolute dog in others.
One way of finding out is using one of the antenna modeling programs and plugging in all the 'right' numbers. And if you think that's an easy solution, I happen to have this huge boat for sale, right next to the bridge made from gold bricks that's for sale too! (Hey! Get Marconi to do it for you, I'm too @#$ lazy!)
- 'Doc
PS - Don't you just love answers like that? Can't get a straight answer out of it if you beat it with a hammer - LOL. Good luck.
PPS - The 50 foot thing is just a nice round number, not particularly significant.
