[Elecraft] Vertical antennas Was: KX3 and KPA1500 compatibility

[Alan Bloom]

On 3/6/23 15:08, Jim Brown wrote:
> Most (but not all) verticals need radials to transmit a decent signal. 
> A vertical that needs radials is a lousy TX antenna without them.

Right.

I use a 6BTV, which is a 6-band trap vertical about 24 ft tall. With a 
barefoot K4 at 100W I get out quite well.  Obviously I can't compete 
with the "big guns" running kilowatt amplifiers and beams at 120 feet, 
but I do work lots of DX.  I can crack most pileups with enough patience.

The trick is that the antenna has 40 radials, each one 32 ft long buried 
an inch or two in the sand at my desert location.

The old joke that a vertical is an antenna that radiates equally poorly 
in all directions is only true if you have a poor radial system.

Alan N1AL