Just a few things to think about concerning polarization of antennas, and beams and so on.
There is no 'best' polarization in general. One will work about as well as the other as far as distance goes. Just depends on who you want/have to talk to and their polarization. Vertical polarization is sort of mainly for mobile stations. That's cuz that's the type of antenna that is easiest for mounting on a vehicle, doesn't require a lot of 'extra' stuff, like huge underpasses, car doesn't fall over from the weight of a tall tower, etc. It's frequency dependent too. While vertical antennas have a lot of 'pros', they also have a few 'cons'. Verticals are typically noisier than horizontal antennas (QRM and QRN, sorry 'QRN'). That does not mean that horizontal antennas are not noisy, they are, just not quite as much as the 'Vert's at times. It also changes, just like propagation, and you just can't get around that.
Oh, and that's another one'a them thingys that changes all the time, usually at the worst possible times, and unless you just happen to have a couple of the same antennas polarized differently, pointed in the exact correct direction, at the 'right' height, just don't worry about it. It'll change. "What the @#$$ are you talking about now?"... why, propagation, of course. And since that's been talked about till it seems a lot like a 'dead horse', I won't beat on it too much. Best thing to say about it is that it changes, just wait for it (easiest thing to do huh, wait?).
And maybe the biggest 'problem' in the whole mess is that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. Your 'beauty' ain't gonna be the same as your neighbor's, or your better half's, or someone who has no idea what the @#$$ that thing is anyway. Some of that can be ignored. Some can't be (if you're smart). I happen to like the looks of a horizontal beam, which on the average, is probably the ugliest. [Insert whatever comments you like here.] If it does what I want it to at least some of the time, who cares, right? And, NO, I'm not comparing them to politicians! Go wash your mouth out with carburetor cleaner.
And lastly... If you put the thing up one way, find out that it doesn't suit you, change it. Nobody says you can't change things later. Budget enough so that you can change it again, just in case, sort of. (Or mount the @#$ thing on a hinge so you can change it at will?)
Having said all that, I'll quit. I wanna go to the library and see if they got any more 'dirty' books anyway...
- 'Doc
