Topband: Elevated vs ground mounted verticals

[Pete Smith]

I'm trying to think through the tradeoffs in time, money and effort between
elevated radials and those laid on the ground. 

If I understand what I've been reading here and on Towertalk, if its
elevated radials are raised far enough above lossy real earth so as to
minimize coupling between them, the efficiency of a classic ground plane
with a few radials is virtually the same as that of a ground mounted
vertical over an excellent ground screen laid on the real earth.  Do I have
that right?  And the efficiency of a vertical with a few elevated radials
relatively close to the earth will be significantly less?

If there are trees surrounding the base of a ground-mounted vertical, to a
height of 30 feet or so, does this increase the losses significantly at 1.8
MHz compared with the same antenna in an open meadow?

73, Pete N4ZR


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