Effect of Ground for Short Vertical Antennas.

[gil]

Hello,

I can't help but share an interesting experience I had recently, operating my PRC-320 at a local park. I used the 2.5m whip with a counterpoise wire on the ground. Using the internal tuner I tuned for best output and got the needle on the meter at 12-O'Clock... That is a so-so match, and usually doesn't lead to a lot of contacts. A great match puts the needle at the 3-O'Clock position. Then I remembered the stream running nearby... Standing water really, home to quite a few rats and infested with mosquitoes but water nevertheless... Some connection must have been made between my remaining neurons because I threw the wire in the water... Bingo! 2:30 needle position on the dial! I got an immediate contact to Ukraine from the South on France using 25W into a short whip on 20m.

It's one thing to hear about the importance of grounding short verticals, but quite another to see the result before your eyes.

Gil.

[bobtennis]

I'll bet the rats at the stream found the results of your experiment simply shocking!

[gil]