[Antennas] Re: [ARLHS] To Ground or Not To Ground - That is theQuestion

[Jack Painter]

That's correct, a mag-mounted vertical capacitively couples to a vehicle
roof using the vehicle as a counterpoise or ground plane. However, if
vertical mag-mount antennas were meant to be DC-grounded they would have
been built that way, but that is not the case. The horizontal planes created
by the vehicle roof, hood and trunk deck provide the near-field ground
plane. A wire connecting radio and car chassis to antenna has no effect on
RF whatsoever. Something else was wrong if such a DC-jumper had any affect
on radio performance.
Jack
  -----Original Message-----
  From: K3vw at aol.com [mailto:K3vw at aol.com]
  Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 1:02 PM
  To: 223bthp at cox.net; jim at jimbuffington.com; antennas at mailman.qth.net
  Subject: Re: [Antennas] Re: [ARLHS] To Ground or Not To Ground - That is
theQuestion


  For one thing, the mag mount is not " grounded" !! It is floating above
the roof and is capacity grounded to the roof. Try and clip a ground wire
from the chassis to the mag mount. Signals will jump out of the noise!! Try
it, I did.