Hi I would like to place monopoles for 160 and 80m bands 30m apart causing
their ground radials to intersect. The radials are #20 bare copperweld
(since I happen to have 4000m) that would be laid out on top of the soil
before turf was placed on top. These antennas would be used for
transmitting only and never at the same time. Is it necessary to solder
the intersecting wires together where they cross for any reason like they
recommend for phased arrays? Naturally I hope not...>>>>
They either should be soldered together, or well separated. The last thing
any of us want is a poor connection. A poor connection can make RF noise or
rectify and mix signals, and a close spaced connection can arc and make a
heat source that literally can cause wires to blow apart in lightning hits.
I hope you are not in an area of severe lightning if you are going to use
#20. While I get away with #16 without any issues at all in repeated direct
lighting hits, I would not risk #20. Maybe if you had many radials #20
would work, but otherwise there is some danger you could reach the fusing
current limit.
Fusing current of #20 is 58 amperes, which is half of #16 and one quarter of
#12 AWG copper. I use a minimum of 30 long radials of number 16 and have no
problems with lighning melting wires **IF** they are not laying on other
conductors with poor connections.
I left a piece of guy strand laying on the ground below a tower, where it
crossed both a large heliax cable and a wide copper flashing. After a strike
or two I found it had melted the wide flashing and blown a hole through the
heliax jacket. I sure learened a lesson on "close but not bonded"
conductors!
My arc welders don't melt the very thin welding wire except at the arc
point. :-) My experience is this carries over to unintentional arcs.
73 Tom
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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
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