On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 21:32:13 +0100, "David" nospam@nospam wrote:

Agreed, the centre junction of the radials is not always at 0V.

Hi David,

In isolation, this statement offers nothing at all, unless, of course,
you are talking about an unexcited system. The notion that 0V
inhabits some greater portion of the antenna, or its radials, or its
junction is a strange concept to its normal operation.

David, AE6EO, has similar concerns that you are presenting what I
would call a naive representation of radiators.

Current
flows along the coax braid on the inside, meaning that the inside part of
the coax braid and radials junction can be any voltage. The radials have a
voltage gradient along them because of the standing wave.

In that sense, 0V does reside at some favored points, but this is not
an explanation of anything.

Because the return
current flows on the inside of the coax braid, it is normally safe to touch
or go near the outside of the braid. For permanent low installations in a
public area, coax should be used instead of twin feeder. The fact that the
return current flows on the inside of the braid gives coax its shielding
properties.

Is this germane to a particular point? Again, these are simply
statements, and they appear unconnected to any kind of dialog.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC