Antenna Counterpoise, misconceptions and mistakes with building a rat tail
Channel: Mountain Parameters
Date: 2019-12-05

In this, we discuss some common procedures that seem to be recommended in a plethora of videos extolling the virtues of counterpoise, be it called "rat tail", "tiger tail" etc.

Counterpoise is a good idea, and it works, but works best when done properly.

Timeline:
00:00 Our evolution with counterpoise
01:20 What does counterpoise do?
01:50 Ground plane
02:10 radials
02:27 wire thickness considerations
02:45 cable capacitance and resistance, why it matters to a virtual ground plane
03:45 why to avoid the use of adapters
07:00 why to avoid the use of spade connector under antenna base
12:00 why spot welding instead of soldering
13:45 Optimum length determination based on wavelength and velocity factor