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Re: [TowerTalk] Temp tower/antenna question

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Temp tower/antenna question
From: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:03:27 -0800
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On 2/2/2013 8:30 AM, jcjacobsen@q.com wrote:
Nothing wrong with a ground rod to an auto tuner and a wire up in a tree.

Actually, a ground rod is a way to WASTE transmitter power. The earth is a big resistor,. We do NOT want a connection to the earth to make a vertical or other end fed antenna work, we want a low resistance path for return current. That's often called a "counterpoise" -- a wire connected to the shield side of the transmitter output and strung out either on the ground or into the weeds. Radials are another way to carry that return current, but the serve the additional function of SHIELDING the antenna from the earth.

My favorite temporary antennas are dipoles I can hoist into a tree using some form of launcher to get a rope around a branch to pull it up, or a long wire launched the same way, with some form of counterpoise or radials, or a vertical of some sort, also fed against radials or a counterpoise. My choice of which to use are based on the availability of suitable sky hooks.

73, Jim K9YC
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