[Elecraft] K3 working on motorboats - possible

[Jim Brown]

On 6/9/2020 1:21 PM, gt-i at gmx.net wrote:
> anywhere then you either need a long vertical plus good ground as 
> mentioned already

WRONG. An end-fed wire needs a COUNTERPOISE, not a connection to mother 
earth. A counterpoise is a low resistance conductor that provides a 
return for the current and the field produced by the "intentional" part 
of the antenna, and the counterpoise IS a part of the antenna. Salt 
water IS an effective counterpoise because it is a good conductor; fresh 
water is NOT, because it is NOT a good conductor, so it burns 
transmitter power.

Likewise, a ground rod is a lousy counterpoise, because the earth is a 
big resistor, and can easily burn much more than half the transmitter's 
power. Radials serve as both a counterpoise and a shield ("screen" in 
British English) -- they shield the field from lossy earth AND serve as 
a return for the current and the field.

73, Jim K9YC