I hope that W8JIT and N7CL can comment on this one for me.
I'd ask this offline, but maybe everyone can benefit from the question.
My 80M 4-square is nearing completion (sorry this is an 80M question, not a
160M question).
I started it last year, and laid down 45-50 radials per vertical, but didn't
get done before winter.
Each radial is 50' long, except for about 20% which can't make it to 50'.
I chose this length based on articles I read regarding radial fields under
shortened verticals.
I think they said put down at least 40 radials, and make them at least as long
as the vertical was tall.
I can't put up a tower, so I made up 4 aluminum verticals that start at 1.625",
and taper to 3/8", and are 45' long.
I plan to guy them in 2 places, using 25' long copper wire "top-hats" on the
top set of guys for top-loading to bring the verticals into resonance.
On this last vertical I went overboard, and laid down 100 radials, most of
which were 50' long.
Questions:
1 - Do you think 100 radials is overkill for my shortened system, or should I
add more to the others to match?
2 - Can I use a noise-bridge or Autek to measure the radiation resistance, and
add enough extra radials to each vertical to "balance" the resistance between
all 4 verticals? Is this even possible to measure?
3 - Are there any suggestions for improvement (considering no tower to hang
them from, and property restrictions).
Looking forward to competing with all those elevated-radial 4-squares in the
pileups.... :-)
Tyler N4TY
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