On Jun 14, 1:33 pm, greg mushial wrote:
If a vertical dipole is 10 wavelengths above the ground,
does one still have to consider the ground as part of the antenna? how
about 2 wavelengths? If someone could walk me through a thought
experiment on this I'd appreciate it.


Any vertical that is complete, and is clear of the ground qualifies.
Even a 1/4 wave ground plane with radials.
No properly built elevated verticals rely on the ground to complete
the
antenna.
Of course, you can still be effected by ground loss though, if you
are low to the ground, or don't have enough radials for the height
in wavelength you are at.
But a horizontal dipole can suffer the same losses, usually to a
lesser degree. The extra lobes are mainly a function of height above
ground more than anything.
You can have a monopole at 5 ft off the ground, and if it has it's
own elevated radial set, it's a complete antenna and does not
rely on ground to provide the lower half of the antenna.
Of course at that height, you need a lot of radials to avoid the
ground losses, but that's not quite the same as using the ground
itself as the lower half of the antenna, with no elevated radials.
MK