The antenna was one of the 450 ohm feeders just stuck into the center of the bnc and the other feeder screwed under the screw of the johnson low pass filter.
has anyone else ever seen this effect on a "non-ground system" antenna like a dipole? I just found it curious.
Hola Derb,
My guess is that your balanced open wire fed antenna is now unbalanced by connecting it across the hot and gnd. It may be exhibiting some feedline radiation resulting in some vertical polarization. A good ground will always help antennas like that.
Try the same test with a coaxial fed horizontal dipole antenna that has a balun/choke or use the new Derb Johnson antenna tuner on that balanced open wire antenna when it's done.
As you've said, it should make little difference with a horizontal balanced dipole if the ground is connected or not, signal strength-wise..
I guess my point is you really need a full-blown radial field matrix under the antenna and out a few wavelengths to make up for poor Earth ground RF-wise. A few rods in the ground are really meaningless for minimizing RF ground losses and have no effect on pattern formation. The lower the desired final angle, the farther out the radials must go, otherwise it's depending on pure Earth. Otherwise the lowest angles are eaten up my Earth losses leaving higher angles. At some point, Earth dictates your outcome. This is especially important for verticals.
Rods are good for safety reasons, RF in the shack, etc., of course.
In case you're interested, here's a short article I wrote after talking with a number of 160M DX gurus about grounds and radials:
http://amfone.net/ECSound/K1JJ16.htmHope youse if feeling good and have a smooth holiday, there BJB!
T