I believe the A99 is an end fed half wave vertical. This type antenna
does not have to rely on a ground plane to provide an “image� like a 1/4
wavelength vertical and it would need something to match it’s very high
impedance, possibly what they refer to as a 1:9 matcher. The performance
should be similar to a 1/2 wave dipole but the manufacturers of these
type antennas advertise spectacular gains, don’t believe them. I used
one for a while on 10m and it works ok, nothing special but they are
cheap and easy to install.
Mike


Johann Höchtl wrote:
I skimmed over the ARRL antenna book. From there i understand, that an
antenna is either complete (dipole) or it relies on ground, either
natural or artificial (counterpoise, radials).

Given that, i wonder what to think about a half wave antenna like the
SOLARCON ANTRON 99 without radials.

Most of these antennas have an included 1:9 matcher, why?

How does such an antenna work anyway? Is there no ground required to
operate such an antenna? How can they work without ground?

Regars,
Johann