Spike wrote:
Imagine a short rod vertical aerial not connected to ground, for the
(say) 160/80/60/40m bands, as might be found in a typical /M set-up, fed
with RF energy and operating over ground of average conductivity.

Three different waves will be launched from this: the sky wave, the space
wave (including the reflected ray), and the surface wave. Each of these
have their own characteristics, inasmuch as the sky wave is launched
willy-nilly even if the band isn't open for that mode, the space wave
depends on the path to the receiver, and the surface wave depends on the
electromagnetic characteristics of the air and the surface material,
although to some extent the latter affects all the waves generated.

My question is: since all these result from the emission of RF from the
short rod antenna, what proportions of the total RF power supplied to it
are found in each of these three separate waves, and what factors control
these proportions?

You are Gareth Alun Evans G4SDW AICMFP.

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STC // M0TEY // twitter.com/ukradioamateur