Topband: A question on L's

[William Culpepper]

If you had a 1.8 mHz vertical antenna with a ground plane consisting of a 
quarter wavelength of copper sheet around the base, the loss would probably 
approximate the loss in one half of a half wavelength dipole.  However, with 
120 quarter wavelength radial wires, all of the return current is NOT 
collected by the wires.  Some small amount of current flows through the 
earth to the wires, and that current flowing through the high resistance 
dirt encounters R loss which lowers the Q as compared to half of the dipole.

Just my opinion.  No NEC model.

William
W4BZ