Towertalk
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [TowerTalk] Topband: Ground Conductivity

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Topband: Ground Conductivity
From: jimlux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 06:30:40 -0700
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On 3/23/20 10:05 PM, Dan Maguire wrote:
Grant wrote:
If you really want to know the parameters, see antennasbyn6lf.com as Rudy 
describes techniques for ground RF properties measuring.

Turns out that very subject was being kicked around on a recent qrz.com thread:

https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/indirect-measurement-of-ground-constants-with-a-dipole.696955/

Dan, AC6LA


This was pretty well studied by George Hagn at SRI in the 60s/70s in the context of antennas for field use of HF and VHF in Vietnam and there are some publications out there. In fact, that's what led to the development of the Open Wire Line (OWL) technique.

The problem with a dipole measurement is that it measures a large area, and the answer you get is some unequally weighted average of the properties of the soil under the dipole. I can't remember if it effectively weights the ends or the middle of the dipole more heavily.

The other problem is that it is affected by surrounding vegetation (i.e. anything within the near field potentially affects the numbers). That's generally a smaller effect except in dense forest or jungle, and one can argue that what you're really looking for is a number to plug into a model for "environment"

That doesn't make it a bad technique, but one needs to understand what you're actually measuring and to what use you're going to put the numbers you've calculated.

For instance, if you're setting up a phased array, and you want to calculate Mutual Z (rather than measuring it) - you typically need soil properties on a finer grid.

_______________________________________________



_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>