I don't understand why. I am not very technical, so I can only
understand things if they are explained in layman's terms. Surely, in
an ideal situation, with a perfect ground, the ground acts as a
constant reference point and all the RF energy will go into the
vertical radiating element? With a less than perfect ground, there
will be some loss, because some of the RF is trying to energise the
ground as a radiator. If the ground is in the form of a counterpoise
there may well be radiation from it, which may even increase the
signal. But this is an accidental effect of a badly designed system.
Improving the RF ground should increase the proportion of the energy
radiated by the vertical element, giving among other things a less
distorted radiation pattern. At least, that's how I see it.
Julian, G4ILO
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--- In FT817@y..., "John O. Newell" <jnewell@m...> wrote:
Julian, I don't think you're achieving that with an
"effective ground." I think all you're doing is dumping a
large part of the RF into the electrical ground. Unless
you've got a few mW to spare, it isn't going to help. (I am
not a Ant.D., so happy to accept corrections here, but this
is my understanding.)
