On Jun 9, 2:54*pm, Bob Dobbs wrote:

Think of having a battery partially inserted in a device
such that one end isn't touching anything,
not going to work very well, so now you understand the concept
of there being two components of conduction.
Radio is similar, a propagation path (usually the air)
and a counterpoise or ground.
When you have a good ground the radio will work better.
There are much more complex aspects that you can explore
when you feel the urge, just google about.
--

Hello John & Bob,

Thanks so much for the prompt replies. I've had a read through your
comments as well as undertaken a bit more reading on the various ham
websites, but there are a couple of things I can't get my head around.
Firstly, John what do you mean by 'good conducting ground'? Does this
refer to the geological aspects of the grounds, e.g. clay soil etc? My
particular lot of land is heavy clay based and I'm wondering if this
is having an effect.What do you recommend to be the ground which
offers the best quality and can I improvise somehow to improve the
ground where I live which as I mentioned is very heavy clay based.

Secondly, Bob, when you talk about the 'counterpoise', is this the
same as John refers to, i.e. the actual ground itself? Someone has
recommended I should consider having someone put in a 220 line for an
amplifier as he said that would make a perfect ham radio station. The
person I spoke with, who in all honesty I don't think is an expert,
also spoke about quarter wave verticals and RF energy. Now I think
these concepts are above and beyond my skill-set but I am assuming RF
refers to radio frequency?

Thanks very much again guys for the help and explanations to an
annoying newbie heh.

Kind Regards,
Brian Anasta