Radials on a elevated antenna only works if the radials are placed at or near the bottom of the antenna and are arranged at a 45* angle.

Any other angle and you might as well not have any radials at all!

On a 10 -12 meter antenna, these radials would need to be at least 1/4 of a wavelength long - 9 feet and preferably 18 feet long to do any good!

If you coil them up they do not work as intended, but they might help a little.

Forget calling them a ground plane, think of them more like a mirror.

If you shine a beam of light directly at a mirror, the light is 100% reflected back towards the source.

If most of your radiated power is located at the bottom of the antenna and you can reflect that power up and forward - it is going to radiate better then something that is only partially effective.

Anything that you don't reflect is adsorbed into the ground - good for keeping the worms warm at night, but not good for radiating RF..

Only a fool would become a ham and then move into an apartment!

The sad truth is that most people do not understand what being a ham is all about anymore and most people thinks that amateur radio is a right and not a privilege.

Trying to be a ham while living in an apartment building would be like trying to be a Ocean liner captain while living in Oklahoma...

The metal railing is much too small in rf area to be an effective counter poise - sorry but who ever told you this should go back to school and get a real education.