A very effective device called *Dynaplate* works very well as a saltwater grounding system for boats or limited areas to run full-sized radials. You can get one for $100 from the link below. https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=13331
Herb, KV4FZ On Wed, Jan 8, 2020 at 6:30 PM Robert Fanfant <rfanf...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Am looking to activate a location with very limited space surrounded by > ocean. Think of a small rock surrounded by saltwater/ocean. The vertical > will be a tall 60’+ fiberglass pole and made to resonate on 160m. I would > like a way to reduce the required space of the 160m antenna radial field > due to the limited physical space available. The vertical will be located > at the waters edge, or even possibly over the oceans surface. At the feed > point, will be a choke designed for 160m. We should also assume maximum > power of 1.5KW being fed into the vertical and the activation will be for a > 2 week duration of time. > > One idea that came up is to use a floating piece of conductive material as > the verticals counterpoise. Specifically, a thin conductive plate > designed to float on the oceans surface. From the antenna’s feed point, > will be a short length of ground wire say about 6’ long, to this > conductive plate. > > Question(s): > > 1. Is it possible to just use the ocean as the ground plane / > counterpoise ? That is, can this idea work? > 2. If so, > * How do I determine the required square footage/size of the plate? > * What material should be used as the conductive plate? (Nickel, > copper, aluminum, etc..? )The thought here is to make this plate as light > as possible, yet effective. It will need to last the duration of the > activation (~2 weeks) in/on saltwater, it needs to handle 1.5KW at the feed > point, and likely exposed to air and saltwater as it floats on the ocean > surface. > > -rob N7QT > > > > Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for > Windows 10 > > _________________ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband > Reflector > _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector