Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the
bilge as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio setup?

Evan Gatehouse

"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
news:B3kPi.10444$th2.2814@pd7urf3no...
Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the
bilge as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio
setup?

No.

Lew

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:43:27 -0700, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:


"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
news:B3kPi.10444$th2.2814@pd7urf3no...
Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the
bilge as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio
setup?

No.

Lew


Why not?


Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)

Evan Gatehouse wrote in
news:B3kPi.10444$th2.2814@pd7urf3no:

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in
the
bilge as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio
setup?



Yep.

Larry
--
You can tell there's extremely
intelligent life in the universe
because they have never called Earth.

Evan Gatehouse wrote:

Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the
bilge as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio setup?

Evan Gatehouse

You may get some electrolysis where your copper ground connects to the
foil, if you have any water in the bilge and it's saline you certainly
will. You'll probably end up with a fairly high resistance (bad)
connection in short order.

Cheers
Marty

On Oct 11, 2:14 am, Evan Gatehouse
wrote:
Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the
bilge as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio setup?

Evan Gatehouse

Silver would work best. Stainless if alwful. A world leading antenna
designer says stainless loses HF attenuation faster then just about
any other metal as the signal follows the outside of the surface
unlike electricity, and the corrision(micro) coating on stainless is
the worst at conducting HF waves. He's running a silver wire thats
teflon coated mil spec stuff the length of my backstays. He said I
will have 3X's the ability of the typical SS backstay set-up. And BTW
tarnished silver is the best, even better than gold.

Joe

Evan,
I admit that I am not an expert in antenna theory, but the object of this
exercise is to establish a reflective ground plane for your long wire. The
obvious choice is the ocean. Why would anybody string anything inside the
hull? Not only would this wire be subject to corrosion due to electrolysis,
but this wire will always be less than optimum. What is wrong with an
insulated (from the hull) carbon block on the bottom of the boat with a
connecting stud for connection inside? This should deliver the required
connection without risk of corrosion.
Steve

"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
news:B3kPi.10444$th2.2814@pd7urf3no...
Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the bilge
as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio setup?

Evan Gatehouse

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:48:49 -0400, Martin Baxter
wrote:

Evan Gatehouse wrote:

Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the
bilge as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio setup?

Evan Gatehouse

You may get some electrolysis where your copper ground connects to the
foil, if you have any water in the bilge and it's saline you certainly
will. You'll probably end up with a fairly high resistance (bad)
connection in short order.

Cheers
Marty

Higher resistance then the connection to the stainless back stay?


Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:42:01 +0200, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

Evan,
I admit that I am not an expert in antenna theory, but the object of this
exercise is to establish a reflective ground plane for your long wire. The
obvious choice is the ocean. Why would anybody string anything inside the
hull? Not only would this wire be subject to corrosion due to electrolysis,
but this wire will always be less than optimum. What is wrong with an
insulated (from the hull) carbon block on the bottom of the boat with a
connecting stud for connection inside? This should deliver the required
connection without risk of corrosion.
Steve

"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
news:B3kPi.10444$th2.2814@pd7urf3no...
Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the bilge
as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio setup?

Evan Gatehouse


I'm sure that Larry will comment on this but the foil inside the boat
forms a capacitance connection to the ocean, just outside the hull.

Many boats do have a "ground plate", a finned copper/bronze plate
bolted on the outside of the hull with connections made to one of the
mounting bolts inside the boat.

(The above assumes a fiberglass boat)

Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:14:41 GMT, Evan Gatehouse
wrote:

Never seen this discussed befo

Could I use thin stainless steel foil instead of copper foil in the
bilge as a ground for a long wire (backstay antenna) ham radio setup?

Evan Gatehouse

Yes but it's relatively high-resistance compared with copper, silver
plate, or (preferably soft) aluminum sheet.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK