On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:10:21 -0400, Thomas Giella KN4LF wrote:
>Lee your post is dripping with sarcasm, there is no need for it.
On the contrary. It makes exactly the point that I would have made
had I taken the time to respond, and in words I would have been
pleased at having put together. The only significant characteristics
of radials is that they are conductive and that they remain
conductive and intact long enough to be worth the trouble to install
them. The virtue or larger wire is that it is a bit more rugged than
small stuff. The virtue of insulated wire is that it takes longer to
degrade in corrosive soils. (Likewise, an important virtue of one
means of termination over another is how long that termination
survives weather and soil chemistry.
The ARRL Antenna Book has an excellent discussion of radials, how
long they should be, the tradeoffs between length and quantity, etc.
I believe that Rudy Severns is the author of that section.
I also agree with the post (was it yours?) noting that what really
counts is field strength. But as that post noted, ground
conductivity has a lot to do with the importance of radials -- that
is, the worse the ground, the more important radials are to good
performance.
73,
Jim Brown K9YC
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