[TowerTalk] 1/4 wave vs. 1/2 wave Vertical

[RLVZ@aol.com]

Hi Guys,

I'd sure appreciate your thoughts on the following:

Would there be any advantages or disadvantages of converting a 1/4 vertical 
on 160 meters to a 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave vertical, when the method used to 
increase the electrical length of the tower would be to load a portion of the top 
set of guy wires?  This is often done on the AM broadcast band but I am not 
sure what the pro's and con's would be.

Since the 1/4 vertical in question has a base insulator, and a set of guys at 
the top of the tower that go out 80% of the tower height, I am thinking it 
would be quite easy just to load a portion of the top set of guy wires.

Specific questions:

1) Would the ground wave perfromance of the vertical be better or worse?
2) Any idea how much the take off angle of radiation would be reduced for DX 
qso's?
3) Would any gain be achieved with this method of increasing the towers 
length?  
4) Would loading a portion of the horizontal guy wires actually decrease 
performance of the vertical?
5) Would the change in base resistance be good or bad for overall 
performance? 

Thanks & 73,

Dick- K9OM