[TowerTalk] Radial question

[Jim Brown]

On Thu,3/3/2016 9:56 AM, Kelly Taylor wrote:
> Hi Jim,
>
> Further to your tutorial, particularly the reference to inductance at a current peak, I note with interest a reference I remember from the manual for my old HF6V (the OP’s antenna is the HF2V, IIRC): in it, Butternut claimed the lumped inductance at the base of the antenna was not “base loading”.
>
> But if a lumped inductance at the base of an antenna isn’t base loading, what is it?

I don't know anything about the design of this antenna, so won't comment 
on it specifically. However -- the feedpoint Z of a short vertical is 
quite low, so one good matching technique might be a transformer 
(including an auto-transformer) that steps that low Z up to 50 ohms. On 
160M, that auto-transformer might take the form of a tapped coil, with 
the coax connected between ends of the coil antenna connected between 
the tap and bottom of the coil.

> My HF6V worked as expected for a vertical on 40 and up. On 80, I’d have had as much luck setting a dummy load in its place. I always got the impression the problem on 80 was the inductance was compressing the current peak to between the feedpoint and the coil and any radiation was primarily into the fence, shed and trees, rather than into the ether.

Again, I don't know enough to comment on the Butternut. But what do you 
have for a radial/counterpoise?

73, Jim K9YC