[BC] Another site vandalized

[Mike McCarthy]

Antennas with really high or low resistive components will be more impacted than by those with a more moderate base impedance.  The former due to capacitive coupling to the ground and the other due to the sheer amount of circulating current in the system.  As long as the radials remain bonded in some manner, the center of the ground system can be damaged and the antenna will still operate...but with a somewhat modified load.

I will say I've seen antennas operate with no ground system at all other than through the ufer ground of the pier.  The load was a bit wonky and coverage was not all that great, but it did play and we got back on the air just in time.

As for the reasoning behind the thefts, a drug induced obsession to get that next fix will draw from the most basic of instincts...survival. And the instinct of survival is the most durable and deeply rooted of them all.  Until that cycle is broken, an addict will do anything.

MM