I have an ICOM 710 SSB. My reception and transmission have not ever been a problem, in fact, other cruisers, Chris Parker & others comment how I usually "boom" in. With 4 to 8 megs. I currently have a 2" copper foil that goes from my Tuner to the Strut bolt, then to another grounding bolt, then to a power post next to my engine, which is grounded to the engine ... total length of copper about 12 feet. I do not have copper running all over the bilge connected to thru-hulls. My copper foil is pretty badly damaged and torn from years of abuse. I need to replace it and will probably go with new 3" wide by 5 mil copper foil from this company Basic Copper, that Max turned me on to ... http://basiccopper.com. Their foil is thicker than that from Defender or West (3 mil), so I'm guessing a bit more durable.
I stumbled on this today ... http://www.kiss-ssb.com/index.html. The travel path of my copper foil goes right down the centerline of the hull, where lots of stuff gets stored, and where I slide back & forth under the cockpit occasionally for this and that to maintain & service, and hence contributing to the foil damage. This KISS system would be fairly bomber.
Does anyone have any experience with the KISS system ? Looks good, but I'm reluctant to change from something that has worked fine in the past ... I could always glass over the foil in the travel areas.
Thanks, cheers, John