Can an antenna work while laying on the ground?


The short answer is "yes."  A lot depends on the conductivity of the soil, actual height above ground, and othe environmental factors.

In this video, Kevin Loughin (KB9RLW) experiments with "ground-hugging" HF antennas and comes to some interesting conclusions.

While on-the-ground antennas are hit or miss for transmitting, they do remarkably well on receiving.

If this topic interests you, please use your search engine to find articles from Mike Toia (K3MT), whose "grasswire antenna" will give you some interesting ideas for operating in noisy and deed-restricted housing.

If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBS-CNtY2Uk

Here are some comments from Kevin (KB9RLW):

Over the years, I've occasionally heard mention of 'ground antennas'. I've even seen a video or two talking about them working fine. Or even "well". Finally I have enough space around me to actually try one. Does it work? If you like my videos, please subscribe here: http://www.youtube.com/user/loughkb?s... If you want me to keep making more videos like this, consider becoming my patron at Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/kb9rlw/ Discuss this and other videos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kb9rlw/

-----

Thanks for joining us today.

Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for visiting my Amateur Radio Blog. I value your comments and suggestions. For Amateur Radio Antenna Topics and Discussions, stay here. For Amateur Radio News and Trends, please visit my news site at https://bigislandarrlnews.com.
Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).

Popular posts from this blog

Building a ZS6BKW antenna from scratch. Post #1559.

Image
If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfUbL_4VCww. The G5RV and its popular variant, the ZS6BKW, are popular multiband HF antennas for radio amateurs. In this video, members of the Stamford Amateur Radio Association W1EE,  show us how to build a ZS6BKW antenna capable of covering the 80 to 6 meter amateur radio bands.  Here are the guidelines offered by this construction team: "The ZS6BKW is the successor to the G5RV. It's a multi-band 80-6 meter wire dipole. ZS6BKW started with the G5RV and then conducted extensive computer modeling to increase the gain, flatten the SWR a bit, and smooth out the lobes. It's also about 10 feet shorter than an equivalent G5RV. The antenna must be fed with 39 feet of 450 ohm ladder line and also must have at least 70 feet of coax feeding the ladder line. The coax and ladder line together form a matching network that brings the SWR below 2:1 (
Read more

G5RV Multi Band HF Dipole Antenna. Post #1555.

Image
If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeNHIQ_j4Dk This well-produced and richly illustrated tutorial on the classic G5RV HF Dipole Antenna was presented to the Brandon Amateur Radio Society in Brandon, Florida in 2017 by Bernie Huth (W4BGH).  Bernie does an excellent job of  explaining the pros and cons of this popular HF antenna from the late Louis Varney (G5RV).  Although Varney envisioned his design primarily as a 3/2 wavelength antenna for the 20 meter Amateur Radio band, radio amateurs have used the antenna for multiband use.  The G5RV is an excellent choice for the 20 meter band.  Performance on other HF Amateur Radio bands is good enough to qualify as stand alone HF antenna if you can only erect one HF antenna. For the latest Amateur/Ham Radio news and information, please visit these websites: http://www.HawaiiARRL.info. http://www.arrl.org. http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news (a wee
Read more

Antenna for Condo Backyard-Stealth. Post #1542.

Image
If you can't see the video, please insert this title URL into your browser search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXTYTytR56A. Don't let deed-restricted properties (HOA/CC&R) stop you from enjoying Amateur Radio.  In this video from AC2RJ, we see how some well-placed trees, a camera tripod, a telescoping fiberglass mast, and a "V" antenna can get you on the air without a lot of effort.  Add an antenna "tuner", a sturdy rig, such as the Yaesu FT-817, a microphone/cw key, and a simple grounding system, and you have a fully functional, nearly invisible ham station in your backyard. For the latest Amateur/Ham Radio news and information, please visit these web sites: http://www.HawaiiARRL.info. http://www.arrl.org. http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news (a weekly podcast which is updated each Friday afternoon). https://hamradiohawaii.wordpress.com. https://bigislandarrlnews.com. https://amateurradionewsinformation.com (Amateur Radio News &
Read more