At this frequency some may argue that as much energy is radiated by the wire running along the garden fence as is radiated by the "loop in the ground". I cannot be sure.
Anyway, it certainly works. I had to use my FT991A auto-ATU to get a low SWR and I am still limiting power to 10W so my PSU is well within its ratings (20A max).
So far this afternoon, my CQs have been spotted across Europe and I have spotted 77 stations on FT8 RX with best DX R4IK (3218km).
UPDATE 1938z: So far this evening plenty of EU stations spotting my 10W. On 80m FT8 RX 298 stations spotted so far.
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| Stations spotting my 10W FT8 TX so far |
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| 80m FT8 RX so far today |
Interesting results. One qualitative way to tell if ground currents are large is with a whip field strength meter at the electrodes end of the wire. If no ground current the E-field strength will be high. If conduction ground currents are high then E-field should be continuous along the wire.
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