As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Sun, 7 May 2006 10:33:51 +0930, "OZUser"
wrote:

As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????



*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

Improving the ground will increase the received signal strength but
will also increase the background noise as well, so the signal to
noise ratio won't change much if any. In other words, no real
improvement.

However, an improved ground will improve your transmitted signal,
especially on the lower frequencies - 7MHz and down.

Best of all though, would be to string up a temporary dipole or
inverted vee.

Bill, W6WRT

OZUser wrote:

As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????




NOPE!!

But changing to a larger antenna will certainly help.

On Sun, 07 May 2006 10:33:51 +0930, OZUser wrote:

As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????

Switching to a Dipole antenna suspended from the trees would be a Major
step upward in performance.

Mobile antennas have very low efficiency, grounding them will not improve
that significantly relative to the dipole.

KD

OZUser wrote:
As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????



What are the typical distances you want to cover?

Below 7 MHz and at distances in the hundreds of miles, relatively low,
horizontal antennas may perform better than a vertical whip, even if
only the same length as the whip.


Chuck

In article 1146965914.944527@teuthos, "OZUser"
wrote:

As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????




Ever thought about using a Ballon or Kite Antenna? Very Good for open
areas, and excellent for MF and HF Portable operations.

Me

OZUser wrote:
As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????



I do not believe anything will improve the receive on the antenna you
are using, what ever it may be. If you are going to be parked, put up
"stick dipole" just as high as you can. That will help recieve and
transmit.

Butch Magee KF5DE

"Dave" wrote in message
news
OZUser wrote:

As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950
HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????


NOPE!!
But changing to a larger antenna will certainly help.


Even if you went to the trouble of pounding in a 3 meter (8 ft) ground rod,
or laid out somewhere between five and 40 radials, the answer would still be
NOPE. As stated in other posts, the loaded mobile antenna is in-efficient
to begin with.

73, Steve, K9DCI

Well, knowing RF, it 'might' make a measurable difference (small amount),
but probably not a practical difference (many dB).

Some interesting responses you have received. I think however something
important has been missed.

On HF frequencies the received signal level is unimportant. What is
important is the "largest difference" possible between the signal level
and the noise level. In many cases improving an antenna tends to
increase both noise and signal received by equal amounts amounts. (I
should point out that this improvement does help transmitting though as
at the other end you become a stronger signal relative to noise) A
ground improvement in your case may reduce some losses but wont affect
the S/N.

So ask yourself what you would do to increase the S/N ratio. A directive
antenna may help, reducing local noise (like from generators etc) will
too. I would guess that given you are mobile your options are limited.
There have also been suggestions already about other antenna systems to
try. If however RX S/N is the most important to you I would try a
magloop for receive and a dipole or 1/4 wave GP for transmit!

Cheers Bob VK2YQA

OZUser wrote:
As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????

On Tue, 09 May 2006 12:41:59 -0500, Bob Bob wrote:
OZUser wrote:
As an avid 4WD SUV owner I do a lot of outback travelling (Austrlian
Deserts, Cape York, Kimberly Coast) and as such have a Barrett 950 HFradio
&Barrett 910 Autotune antenna installed for comms.

Would it be preferable when camped / stationary to earth the vehile to a
"ground" ground = what I am looking for is a better receive signal ?????

Some interesting responses you have received. I think however something
important has been missed.

Yes, indeed. Some good fashioned old amateur radio experimenting.

[Top Posting corrected]
Jonesy W3DHJ