[TowerTalk] fresh water grounds

[Jim Jarvis]

Van wrote:

" I live 200 feet out on a point =
in a very large lake and 200 feet of coax would get me to the end of the =
40 foot dock. Part of the dock is covered with a metal roof which might =
cause some problems but would a 1/4 wave vertical for 75 meters  with =
several wires into the water provide an effective RF ground field? =
Anyone have any thoughts or experience on this subject."

There was a guy in CO2 land who wrote a piece for CQ a couple years
back, where he sunk the lower half of a vertical dipole in his
lake, to see what happened.  I don't recommend you ask him this question!

Fresh water doesn't conduct well...it depends on the amount of dissolved
material in ionic form.  How fresh is fresh?  

My guess is, it should play just fine, if you get a reasonable number of
radials under it. 4 is a minimum...12-16 is a reasonable number. But the 
same system over salt water would be many times better.  

It's fairly certain that being IN the water is better than being in 
land with low moisture content.  So it's worth doing.

Jim Jarvis, N2EA
Strategic Marketing Analysis
International Business Development
Salesforce Development Programs
410 439 1073 office
443 618 5560 cell
jimjarvis at comcast.net