Topband: Electrical height of short shunt fed tower?

[Guy Olinger K2AV]

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 7:39 AM, Julius Fazekas <phriendly1 at yahoo.com>wrote:

All the reading and discussions I have over the preceding 6 years suggest
> that anything above the first capacitance hat/wire provides little or now
> benefit. I think there have been articles through the years in magazines
> like Ham Radio, QST and QEX that have explored this topic.
>

In going up the tower to various conductors, the current tends to pick the
LONGEST conductor path "near" the top for the greatest current. Particularly
on 160 where a 1/4 wave is 125 feet, the typical longest path from a given
junction has the lowest Z and will therefore accept the majority of the
current out of the junction.

How this plays out with respect to "first" hat/wire is a purely case-by-case
basis.

.5 times longer may be as good a "swag" rule as any.

73, Guy.