Bud - I've secured radials in a similar environment before. I used some
large common nails, about 4" long and made a single wrap of the wire around
the nail just under the head. A very slow process, but it worked OK. If
you buy the nails by the large box or by the pound, the cost isn't too bad.
K8AC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bud Hippisley, K2KIR" <k2kir@telenet.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 1:08 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Burying radials
> This winter I put up a 90-foot Rohn 45 guyed tower -- partly to support my
HF Yagis and partly to serve as my top-loaded 160-meter vertical.
>
> Because the ground was frozen by the time I could get around to putting
down radials, I laid some temporary radials on top of the ground just before
the first significant snowfall. Now the snow has gone (finally!) and
everybody is tripping over the wires, so now I need to bury two or three
dozen "permanent" radials. After looking in my junk box, the radials are
most apt to be #12 insulated solid copper house wire (for mechanical
strength) or #16 bare solid copper wire (if I find any advantage to using
it).
>
> I live in a forest, so the top surface of my yard consists of pine
needles, clumps of moss, and numerous surface roots from pines, balsams,
hemlocks, and an occasional hardwood. Because there are so many roots I
doubt that the "EdgeHog" or any similar device would be of much use to me.
Instead, I'm thinking of hand trenching with a garden trowel a foot or two
at a time, where possible, and then using some kind of pound-in clip to hold
each radial in place where it has to come out of the ground to go over a
tree root. (Probably in pairs -- one on each side of the root.) Something
that looks like a miniature tent-peg seems like it would be ideal, but I
certainly can't afford real tent-pegs, based on the prices I've seen in area
stores, and they're typically far too big for what I have in mind.
>
> Soooo.....I'm wondering if anyone knows of something that would do the
"tie down" job and is readily (and cheaply) available at Lowe's, Home Depot,
or the national hardware chains. (Whatever I use, I expect to need many
hundreds of them.) Alternatively, has anyone ever taken a large electrical
or construction staple and bent the sharp ends back up, so that they resist
being removed -- much like the barb on a fish hook -- after being driven
into the ground?
>
> Bud, K2KIR
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
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