> It doesn't work very well. Last night it was much poorer on receive and > transmit than my existing 43' vertical setup. I'm not sure what to think.
Your fundamental problem is a lack of understanding of how a monopole works, specifically a base fed vertical with a ground system. Anyone who tries to use a ground system that converges on a point removed 10 or 20 feet from where the vertical element is excited does not really understand how these antennas work. You can't expect good performance by distorting the geometry of the antenna to bring the feed point to the counter poise convergence point. You can't just throw out physics. it will radiate something, it just won't meet your expectations, as you mentioned. If I were you, I'd fall back and start doing some reading. These antennas in their various forms have been developed since the 1930s. There's a pretty vast amount of information about them, but what you will probably benefit most from, is a college text book treatment, the kind of text used for a class on radio broadcast engineering. One such text is Radio-Electronic Transmission Fundamentals by B. Whitfield Griffith, Jr. 2nd ed. It has a few chapters on medium wave verticals, ground systems, radiation resistance, current and field intensity but is written for students in an easy to understand way. Perhaps you can find a used copy on-line. It's better to take your time and study these things, then use your knowledge to correctly construct the antenna, even it it means waiting until next fall to try it. 73 Rob K5UJ _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
