John Kuklewicz N7ZN wrote:
>
>With a reasonably large number of radials the current in each radial is
>relatively low, so the smaller gauge and added resistance of steel does
>not seem to make a big difference.
>
To clarify what I said earlier, the skin effect means that the RF
current flows initially in the zinc plating, which is quite a good RF
conductor. The steel core is not involved unless (or until) the zinc
dissolves away - and then, the RF resistance will increase markedly
because of the magnetic properties of steel.
You can always afford to lose a few individual radials if you have large
numbers of them, but chemical corrosion would be liable to affect them
all together.
As I said: if your soil chemistry allows it, then galvanized wire will
be fine. It also depends how long you intend to stick around at that
QTH.
--
73 from Ian GM3SEK
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