[BC] Conductivity vs Skywave

[Richard Fry]

Chuck Leavens:
> Because of the conductivity do you think the KD(KA) example
> would have been better off with a single shunt fed radiator
> of some sort or would it make insignificant difference, or
> just a different set of problems?  I always thought the single
> radiator would have been better.
______________

A good, sectionalized MW radiator (e.g., a Franklin type) can have a bit 
over 2 dB more gain in the horizontal plane than a conventional 180? series- 
or shunt-fed radiator with the same ground system and tx site.  That 
additional gain will improve field strength, dB for dB, at all locations 
served by the ground wave -- no matter what the conductivities and terrain 
profiles may be.

Whether or not that extra field strength produces a truly worthwhile benefit 
at the receiver is another matter.  A good assessment of that would be to 
temporarily reduce TPO by 2dB (27%), and see how that affects listeners. 
Probably few would perceive any difference.

RF