[Elecraft] G5RV

[Stuart Rohre]

Rich,
If I understand your description, you are describing the Tee antenna which
is a top loaded wire vertical essentially.  It was a common Marconi
shipboard installation when antennas were thought to need to be a large
capacitor to earth or sea.  Those big feedthru insulators were needed to
keep the build up of salt spray from shorting out the feeder wire too
quickly.  It would eventually,  of course, and then you had to clean off the
ceramic with fresh water and you would be good until the next blow!

Once I thought the massiveness of shipboard antenna components was needed to
withstand winds and high power, but the accumulation of salt upon conductors
and non conductors was a constant problem which needed long leakage paths on
insulators of smooth ceramic as well.  We still fight this on our research
ship we operate in the Gulf.
73,
Stuart
K5KVH