How big is the land area? Stan, ZF9CW
> On Jan 8, 2020, at 4:30 PM, Robert Fanfant <rfanf...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > > Am looking to activate a location with very limited space surrounded by > ocean. Think of a small rock surrounded by saltwater/ocean. The vertical > will be a tall 60’+ fiberglass pole and made to resonate on 160m. I would > like a way to reduce the required space of the 160m antenna radial field due > to the limited physical space available. The vertical will be located at the > waters edge, or even possibly over the oceans surface. At the feed point, > will be a choke designed for 160m. We should also assume maximum power of > 1.5KW being fed into the vertical and the activation will be for a 2 week > duration of time. > > One idea that came up is to use a floating piece of conductive material as > the verticals counterpoise. Specifically, a thin conductive plate designed > to float on the oceans surface. From the antenna’s feed point, will be a > short length of ground wire say about 6’ long, to this conductive plate. > > Question(s): > > 1. Is it possible to just use the ocean as the ground plane / counterpoise > ? That is, can this idea work? > 2. If so, > * How do I determine the required square footage/size of the plate? > * What material should be used as the conductive plate? (Nickel, > copper, aluminum, etc..? )The thought here is to make this plate as light as > possible, yet effective. It will need to last the duration of the activation > (~2 weeks) in/on saltwater, it needs to handle 1.5KW at the feed point, and > likely exposed to air and saltwater as it floats on the ocean surface. > > -rob N7QT > > > > Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10 > > _________________ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector