[Elecraft] Horiz. loop & counterpoise

[Stuart Rohre]

Don't need a counterpoise on any balanced antenna such as a dipole, loop,
dipole fed Yagi, quad, etc.  They are complete antennas unto themselves,
since they have a half wave or one wave or more radiator.

Only if your feedline was some odd quarter wave multiple would a
counterpoise help for RFI prevention.
IF the counterpoise wires happened to end up under your loop, they would
restrict its angles of takeoff to be the upper ones, and you would lose the
advantage of the lower angles for DX.  However, what you do want for your
loop is a gas tube arrestor on each side of the feedline, (balanced line),
and if not that, a 150k ohm resistor to ground on each side of the feedline
before it comes in the house, to bleed off wind and passing storm static
build up.  This protects the radio front end from burn out!  And do not
leave any antenna connected full time to radio for storms might spring up
when you are not around to disconnect!

Counterpoise is specifically used for random single wire, or quarter wave
sloper, or other unbalanced, incomplete radiators, needed a ground reference
for low RF in the shack.

72,
Stuart K5KVH