[TowerTalk] Verticals in trees

[jimjarvis at comcast.net]

What a fun topic.   Given the variables in a forest, I'm not surprised that we're facing a lack of quantitative studies.   The conductivity of GA pines info was interesting.
Here's my take, based on 50 years of practice: Just put the blasted thing up.  Knowing more about the forest won't change the picture.  
In Vermont, I had 140-150' high white pines.  Shooting rope over them tended to keep the vertical portion of the antenna 10-20' away from the trunk.  I routinely put up non-directional antennas with 4 elevated radials, and found them quite functional.   Seldom got beaten in pileups, except by directional systems.
At the moment, I'm focussing on invisible antennas using #24 wire, for stealth applications, at exciter power.   And probably without a good forest to help solve my problem.   I'll take the trees any day.
N2EA