[Elecraft] Vetical Antennas

[Darwin, Keith]

Ground vs.roof mount - here's my experience.

I have a 32' vert on the ground over a field of 16 radials, each about
20 feet long.  Remote tuner, 35' away, allows it to work on multiple
bands.

I also have a 16' vert on the roof of my garage with 4 radials.  I tuned
this antenna by connecting 1 radial at a time and then trimming the
radial until I got the same impedance (more or less).  Then I connected
all 4 radials and adjusted the vertical radiator to finalize it.

I've done a lot of A/B switching between them on 20 meters.  The 1/2
wave on the ground over 16 radials performs equal to or slightly WORSE
than the 1/4 wave on the roof.  I've checked both domestic and DX on it
and, as much as I want the 1/2 wave to be better, it just isn't.

At one time I had a Cushcraft MA5V on the roof.  The 32' vertical
outperformed it most of the time.

- Keith N1AS -
- K2 5411.ssb.100 -