Hi Ray,Thanks for the notes, I'm enjoying the to and fro.
It's interesting that you had little luck with some of the more traditional "low noise" configurations, but it just goes to show what you say about local conditions, and finding what works. I suppose it depends if interference is near or mid field (whatever that is), common mode, polarisation etc. The good thing about receive antennas is that there are so many things to try for so little outlay.
It's interesting that your loop works well with relatively little winding inductance on the transformer. I'd based my approach on getting this parameter high enough so that the reactance was high relative to the feedline impedance at LF. The first attempt on a core with low Al was useless at 60 kHz - WWV inaudible, but lots of noise. Our house being full of QRM sources, it's quite instructive to short circuit the coax up at the antenna end, or connect the radio to the shield of the incoming line and see just how much "mush" there is (at any frequency).
I have another location we visit, where I have more time to look for HiFers. Alas, it needs an antenna that will work for 22m. I've had some fun with a "Loop on the Ground", but it hasn't born fruit at this point of interest. Perhaps I'll take the tuned loop...
Going back to the longwire, polarization might be part of it's different responses at 22m. The transformer also makes a difference, and the new version that is effective at LF has curtailed HF somewhat, The previous version (same 9:1 impedance ratio but with half the turns) made for some great MF-HF listening. It's all a compromise.