Topband: Ground Radials

[Donald Chester]

...It looks like I have to use a LOT more sod clamps every couple of feet to 
nail down these radials, before I destroy my entire RF system. Are there 
other ways to create a ground screen? ...

The hard way would be to bury each radial 1-2" into the ground.  THat's the 
way I did mine, using a homemade ground plough attached to a Troy-built 
garden tiller.  I laid 16,000 feet of radials in about 3 days.  Another 
possibility would be to disc up the ground during dry weather, to a fine 
powder.  Lay the radials, and staple where necessary.  After a few rains, 
the radials will bury themselves, and as soon as grass begins to grow, they 
will be beneath the sod.

If you mow the grass very short, you should be able to lay the radials, and 
staple them wherever necessary, and as the grass grows they will be well 
hidden in the thatch.  Just keep the mower blade near maximum height for the 
first few seasons, and eventually the radials will end up below the sod.
For sod staples, I use some of  my #8 copperweld wire, of which I have an 
abundance.  I just cut off about 18" lengths, bend them double, and drive 
into the ground with a hammer.  The copper sheath will not react with the 
copper radial wire.  Avoid galvanised wire at all costs.  Zinc is highly 
reactive with copper, and the resulting corrosion is apt to result in TVI 
and strange varieties of cross modulation, even if it is limited to the 
ground system.

I am speaking from painful experience.

Don K4KYV

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