[TowerTalk] Raised Radial Spacing

[Jim Brown]

On 10/28/2025 11:15 AM, n1bkb--- via TowerTalk wrote:
> While I have not tried the grounding system you suggested, I checked with the mfr of my Zero Five 43' vertical and he approved my alternate grounding solution.

Radials and other counterpoise systems are NOT GROUND, and are NOT 
intended to couple to the earth! They are the other half of the antenna, 
an attempt to provide a low resistance path for the antenna's return 
current. On-ground and buried radials DO couple to the earth, but that 
is a BAD thing, because the earth is a big resistor. The greater the 
number of radials, the lower the loss.

I suggest that you go back and study all that has been contributed to 
this long discussion, including the slides for my tutorial talk on 160M 
antennas, which is really about radial and counterpoise systems. The 
concepts apply to all base-fed verticals that have a low-impedance 
feedpoint, regardless of what band they're used on.

http://k9yc.com/160MPacificon.pdf

73, Jim K9YC