Topband: Small lot antenna idea

[Jim Brown]

On Thu, 8 Feb 2007 20:40:11 -0800 (PST), steve d wrote:

>  The question now becomes how to I ground it? 

Study the ARRL Antenna Book on the topic of "Ground."  An EARTH 
connection does NOTHING for an antenna system. What you need is WIRE 
to return the antenna current, in the form of radials or a 
counterpoise.  W2DU has a really good discussion of this on his 
website. Google to find it, then download the chapters of his book 
that are online. 

At my old QTH on a city lot in Chicago, I used the combination of a 
wrought iron fence and a dozen or so radials. Ya gotta look at what 
you CAN do, and do your best. But the ONLY value of an EARTH 
connection is lightning protection (and for that, it's quite 
important). 

Also study the ARRL Antenna Book (and ON4UN's book) on the topic of 
loading. Top loading, in the form of a capacity hat, is far more 
efficient (that is, less wasted power, greater bandwidth) than a 
coil. 

73,

Jim Brown K9YC