A counterpoise will have rf on it. So, it no doubt does radiate.
Even at low power, never touch the counterpoise while you are transmitting.

If you can get most of the counterpoise outdoors, that's good, but usually 
you cannot.

The counterpoise serves to reduce, if not remove, the rf that would 
otherwise be flowing back into your microphone, equipment.etc. This rf would 
also be radiating, and causing distortion of your signal, along with nasty 
rf burns to ones hands or whatever comes into contact with the hot spot on 
the equipment.

You can spend over $100 for the MFJ artificial ground, which is nothing more 
than a tuner for a counterpoise, and accomplish the same thing with a few 
feet of wire rather than a quarter wave. But, you then have to figure out a 
way to meter the artificial ground, and it's another box to adjust. This 
tuned ground wire also carries rf and should never be touched while 
transmitting.

Attaching the end fed wire to the center conductor of a length of coax may 
reduce the indoor radiation from such an antenna a little, but, rf will 
still be present on the shield of that coax, and you will still need either 
a good ground or a counterpoise to channel it away from the equipment.

There are only 2 good ways to avoid having any rf indoors. One is to use a 
center fed antenna fed through an outdoor ballon, with the entire antenna 
outdoors, well away from your building. The other is to use a remote outdoor 
tuner such as the one sold by MFJ and a few other companies. This puts the 
tuner and the full length of the antenna outdoors, with only a portion of 
the coax running from the tuner to the radio being indoors. These methods 
are often impossible for people in apartments and other restricted housing.




Mike Duke, K5XU
American Council of Blind Radio Amateurs