"Cecil Moore" wrote
I'm putting a vertical back up for transmitting and will
probably receive on my horizontal dipole. The vertical
will be mounted on the top of a 30 foot Rohn 25G tower
with the base grounded in cement. The question arose in
my mind whether to connet the drooping elevated radials
to the tower or not. To my surprise, EZNEC says that RF
current flows in the tower whether the radials are
connected to the tower or not. I'm using mininec ground
for the simulation. The radial fields are obviously
inductively coupling to the tower. Does anyone else
worry about such things?
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Cec, I'm curious but not surprised. What are the approximate
dimensions?

Height of tower.
Length of vertical radiator.
Number and length of radials.
Any loading coils?

Your discovery of current in the tower should not be surprising. It is
just another radial.

It seems to me there should be negligible loss in the tower. There may
be a very small loss in the ground. The tower is just another
radiator. There will be some effect on the radiation pattern in the
vertical plane. It will affect the so-called take-off angle. It may be
advantageous.

Imagine what might happen if the radials were removed.
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Reg, G4FGQ