"Chuck" wrote in message
ink.net...
A number of issues have been raised here that deserve some further comment.

Regarding RF coupling to the standing rigging, don't be overly concerned.
You will be coupled to the rigging no matter where you place the antenna.
Some geometries will doubtless be worse than others, but it will be
difficult to predict in advance. Moreover, such coupling is not
necessarily a bad thing. It is just a difficult thing to model and thus
more of an unknown.

This is my experience.

Regarding antenna length, more is not necessarily better and may be worse!
But whether worse or better, changing the length of an antenna may make it
different. For example, if you are crossing oceans and want reliable skip
communication over great distances, you want low radiation angles. A
quarter-wave or 5/8-wave vertical will be your best choice. That would be
about 16 feet in length at 14 MHz. Make your antenna 32 feet long and you
have a half-wave vertical with very little low-angle radiation at 14 MHz,
but at 7 MHz and below, low-angle radiation will be plentiful.

I think the OP mentioned an automatic tuner. From my experience
both the ICOM and SGC tuners require at least 23'. Not sure how a
longer antenna fairs. Shorter will definitely not tune well.


Good luck

Chuck