I am contemplating putting up a vertical in the woods on my property. The
woods is really my only option as the property is heavily wooded with very
little open space. I have a couple of concerns that you experts out there
might be able to help me with.
First, I am curious how much effect on the signal there will be with all of
the trees. My backyard is filled with oak trees that range from a couple of
inches in diameter to a couple of feet in diameter. Density of the woods is
such that it is difficult to see the house once I am a couple of hundred
feet into the woods. The clearest area I have would place the vertical 15
or 20 feet from the nearest tree. Do you think there will be much
degradation in signal strength due to the trees or would RF travel through
the trees fairly well at top band wavelengths?
Second, my backyard also has some hills, Michigan sand dunes really. My
preferred location for setting up the vertical is in somwhat of a valley.
This location is perhaps 30 feet lower than the foundation of my house but
about 150 feet away. The second location is on the top of the next hill (30
feet up in altitude from the first location), but, is 300 feet or so away
from the house, but would make a more difficult installation with all of the
small trees and bushes in that location that would need to be cleared. I
assume the higher location would be preferable. But, would the difference
be significant between the two locations?
Lastly, I've read some of the archives and note that a few people have had
issues with arcing or melting something when running high power, though
mostly with elevated radials. This is probably my biggest concern. I plan
to go with ground mounting of the vertical with a radial system under the
vertical. The radials would be perhaps 50 feet long each and there would be
50-60 of them. With all the leaves and other decaying forest matter on the
ground, if I laid the radial wire on top of these and used wire staples to
hold them down would I be risking a fire when pushing the vertical with high
power?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Tim
KK9T
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