On Mon, 10 Jul 2006 00:11:25 +0100, "David" nospam@nospam wrote:

The contradiction over antenna radials continues. One posting says that the
radials acts as a mirror and reflect the wave, another post says the radials
do not reflect - that the radials are simply positioned so that the
radiation from them cancels out.

Hi David,

Well, this is not an opinion based outcome, and interpretation is even
less forgiving.

Radials that "act as a mirror" are fantasy for radial lengths less
than 5 wavelengths at less than several hundred in count. Simple
geometry and trig are suitable to observe this.

Radials that "are simply positioned" certainly outnumber those that
are not. A vertical with two radials is sufficient to do the job, and
simply positioning them at 180° to one another is enough to insure
their radiation from canceling at a distance.

Now, when we regard the first claim in light of the second, it is
amazing how much mirror-like quality those two radials have (which
sort of puts the bronx cheer to the mirror claim).

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC