I have used full size a 80 meter 4 square in the woods for the last 15 years
with good results. The verticals sit on a steep hillside where the bottoms
of the ground mounted verticals vary in height by as much as 20 feet. The
array has the most tilt toward JA which is by far my best direction.
Most of my trees are 70 to 90 feet in height. The northeast vertical is
actually mounted to the side of a large oak (with all the lower limbs
trimmed off). Interestingly, I have never had a direct lighting strike.
However, I have suffered continuing damage through secondary discharges
which has destroyed LEDs, switchboxes, and coax. My biggest problem has
been ant colonies nesting in both the plexiglass and aluminum covered
phasing networks. They also really like the dummy loads as a home. Since
I do little to no operation from April till September, I probably should
disconnect the phase box and dummy load and store them inside..
John N8UM Oak Ridge, Tennessee
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