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WHAT IS A COUNTERPOISE 

WHAT IS A COUNTERPOISE . WHAT IS A RADIAL. In the realm of Ham Radio the Counterpoise is used as an artificial ground. WHY? In most locations, the earth or physical ground is a very poor conductor of electricity or radio frequency energy.

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WHAT IS A COUNTERPOISE 

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  1. WHAT IS A COUNTERPOISE  WHAT IS A RADIAL

  2. In the realm of Ham Radio the Counterpoise is used as an artificial ground. WHY? In most locations, the earth or physical ground is a very poor conductor of electricity or radio frequency energy.

  3. Since the earth is a poor conductor of electrical or radio frequency energy we need to establish an artificial ground.

  4. The counterpoise is a form of “ a capacity ground” which is often quite effective. Its use is particularly beneficial when a extensive buried system is not practicable, or when an ordinary pipe ground cannot be made to have sufficiently low resistance, as in rocky or sandy soils.

  5. My personal example of a counterpoise is: A copper ground rod about five feet in the ground just outside of my “shack”. All the equipment in the shack is connected to the ground rod. There is 50 feet of insulated, stranded 16 gauge wire connected to the ground rod and then to one of the metal fence posts. Note that my long-wire antenna and antenna tuner give me an SWR range of 2.5:1 down to 1.5:1 on all bands from 160 meters to 10 meters at 100 watts.

  6. Note that the Ground Plane (fancy word for the counterpoise) is elevated above the actual ground. There are differences between the “experts” as to the distance between the dipole, the inverted Vee, the long-wire and the Off-Centered-Fed antenna and the counterpoise. My experience seems to be: Experiment with the distance above the ground for your best SWR. After all; my counterpoise is a wire fence about ¾ of a mile long and the fence wire is connected to metal fence posts about 3 feet in the ground.

  7. Now, back to the Radial system used by a vertical antenna. First of all, the Radial system used by a vertical antenna IS A TYPE OF COUNTERPOISE.

  8. The radials are buried at the base of the vertical antenna. The radials are ¼ wavelength long of your lowest frequency used. Please use at least 12 radials as a start. They should be buried 6 to 12 inches in the ground. Like all things in the world of Ham Radio this is subject to the conditions in your yard.

  9. FINAL CONCLUSION A radial is a counterpoise A counterpoise is a radial A counterpoise is a “faked-up” artificial ground It may be buried in the ground It may be elevated above the ground

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