EuroSpeleo 2016
How Earth-Current Antennas Really Work
Oral|Dr David Gibson
Abstract
With cave radio equipment, there has been a trend away from the use of induction loop antennas to the use of so-called earth-current antennas, i.e. long wires grounded at both ends. Both the HeyPhone and Nicola system use this type of antenna. However, the popular explanation for how this antenna works is fallacious. The antenna does not operate by allowing the current to flow in a 'big loop' in the ground, nor is it a 'conduction mode' of operation. In fact, it does not depend, fundamentally, on current flow in the ground at all. The fact that the popular explanation is wrong is important because, if we do not understand how the antenna works, it is difficult to know the best way to use it, nor how to design a better one. In this short talk, without too much emphasis on theoretical physics, David Gibson outlines a more useful model - that of the Grounded Horizontal Electric Dipole.
More from 2016
Oral|Mr Paul Taylor
Forest of Dean Round Up
Oral|Mr Chris Jewell
Cave Diving in Sistema Huautla: 2013 and 2016
Oral|Prof John Gunn
Caves and Karst in British Carbonate Rocks
Poster|Mr Nigel Steel
Poster: Under the Uplands - Exploring the Cave Archaeology in the Yorkshire Dales
Oral|Mr Matthew Watson
Austria Expedition 2016
Oral|Ms Antoniya Vlaykova
Hidden wonders of the underground world
Oral|Dr Tim Moulds
UIS Congress 2017 - Caves in an Ancient Land
Field|Mr Dave Hollingham
Field Trip: Accompanied Caving Trips
Oral|Mr Simon Brooks
Caving in the Abode of the Clouds, Meghalaya, NE India 2016
Workshop|Mr Duncan Simey
Surveyor's Get Together