Hi Tony,

Presuming a length of 3M

the rod is 8 meter long

, and you can tune the antenna; then you may
lose a few dB.

hard to tell how many dB one would loose, until the power loss mechanism via the rod coupling is understood. I would need to find somebody who had occasion to test that configuration, otherwise I will have to anyway buy the rod (about 100$) and make the test myself

As for heating. The exposure to sun (if the rod is black) will
probably create more heat than the RF.

I am not worried at all of rod heating, but of RF power loss

You need to provide a
resistance reading with more resolution than 0 Ohms on the 1000 Ohms
range.

There are many articles on the Internet that suggest a resistance in the order of one ohm or so. But knowing precisely how many ohms the rod shows woud not help much, as, again, until the loss mechanism is not characterized, noone can stell something sensible

73's

welcome