[gvel]

In my former life antenna polarization was always a consideration in addition to several other factors. But we transmitted and recieved, and the power available for transmitting from a team in the field was only in the vicinity of 20 watts.

As a signal travels, bouncing off different levels of the atmosphere and objects at the surface, polarity changes to something other than the source.

I read somewhere, "we" receive a circular polarized wave. I do find that difficult to believe - however - since the symmetry of a circle would be very difficult to maintain. So...I think of it as rotational. The electric field changes in direction and intensity over time. This could be one reason for fading?

For line of site communications, throw all of this out the window. Polarity is very important.

In short, for dxing on the shortwave bands, the polarity of a receiving antenna is not a factor.