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AR15.COM
9/15/2008 11:01:20 AM EDT
I have the ARRL antenna book on order, in the meantime I have a few questions?
"counterpoise"... what is it, in relation to antennas.   I've seen a few mentions of it but no definition.  
Ground plane... I know what grounding is in terms of electrical safety, but how does it relate to RF transmission.   For example, why put a mag mount  on a cookie sheet?

Are there any online resources for antenna fundamentals?   I've found all sorts of "how to build a XXXX type antenna" but nothing that covers the generalities.

Thanks
RB
9/15/2008 11:42:28 AM EDT
[#1]
To oversimplify it, think of 1/4 wave vertical antennas as half of a half wave dipole, oriented vertically. So both the counterpoise attached to an HT and the "ground plane" of a vertical mag mount act as the other half of that dipole.
9/15/2008 1:03:30 PM EDT
[#2]
Here. I will give the op the nod for finding this one. Pretty good and it gets your feet wet. If you want more in depth go with something written by W4RNL. He is the godfather of modern antennas.