I had intended to make A/B comparisons, but I got caught up in the excitement of the contest!
It might be that Long Mynd is relatively close to the centres of activity - such that it is possible to hoover up most of the available contacts with either antenna.
The FT817 isn’t ideal as an indicator of relative signal strength, because it has a step-change bar graph display.
I might try something a bit more controlled, using the old FT290 with its little analogue meter, and a nice switched attenuator between the transverter and receiver. That would assume that the transverter is linear, but my attenuator wouldn’t be accurate at 1296MHz.
GB3SE near Stoke is a good steady signal from high points around here.
Also, this is an old antenna, and although I have cleaned and re-mounted all the directors, I was reluctant to disturb the driven element, because the castings are a bit fragile. I have taken a DC resistance measurement, which was very low - suggesting that there is no corrosion in the signal path. Also, the transverter thinks the SWR is OK on a very short feeder.
But, there could be something amiss.
All good fun 