"Richard Clark" wrote

The electric dipole moment is clearly bridged by a conductor, by
definition. As such, at the interface, it must collapse completely
into a current which gives rise to counter emf, the two waves cancel
as a function of phase - the proof again is found in the Lambertian
distribution that vanishes completely with the removal of ground (why
horizontal antennas are held up in the air). The more remote the
ground, the greater the variation of phase and the distribution, and
yet the low angles never fully recover (the death embrace of ground is
always there).

Richard, would the dipole's performance thus be improved by bedding the
ground with sand, and hurt by adding ground radials? Same true if the dipole
was at some compromise between 1/4 wave and the desired 1/2 wave above
ground?

Regards,

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Va (where mostly sand exists anyway)