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Verticals and ground systems — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
This is the first recorded version, so every line is shown as added. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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A quarter-wave vertical works against a ground system that acts as the missing half of the antenna.
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It is omnidirectional, radiates at a low angle (good for DX), and takes up almost no horizontal
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space.
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## Radials are the antenna
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A vertical is only as good as its ground system. Common practice:
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- **Ground-mounted:** as many radials as you can lay — 16 is decent, 32 is good, 60 is diminishing
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returns. Length is not critical; quantity is. Bare wire pinned in the grass, and the lawn grows
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over it.
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- **Elevated:** as few as two to four *resonant* radials per band, tuned to length, work very well.
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Without a proper ground system, a large fraction of your power heats the soil. This is the most
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common reason a vertical "does not work".
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## Trade-offs against a dipole
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- **Vertical:** low takeoff angle, omnidirectional, small footprint, noisier — it picks up local
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electrical noise that a horizontal antenna rejects.
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- **Dipole:** quieter, needs height and space, directional.
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Many stations keep both and switch, because on any given contact one is typically several S-units
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better than the other.
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## Practical types
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- Multiband trap or fan verticals — one feedline, several bands.
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- 43-foot verticals with a remote tuner at the base.
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- Mobile whips with loading coils — inefficient but effective in motion.
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- Screwdriver antennas — motorized loading for mobile HF.