Topband: Ground Radials Yet Again

[Tom Rauch]

> Well, that is how I think of it.... the point is that the 
> short radials make the aerial work.... larger, and I mean 
> LARGE, bring the angle of radiation down.....

Large would be pretty long.

The area that affects loss at low wave angles is maybe one 
wave or so out to several wavelengths. As a matter of fact 
we don't really change the low angle signal until radials 
are at least one wave long. We might make things 1/2 dB 
better at 5 degrees with a few hundred 600-foot long 
radials. To be effective the radials would have to be fairly 
close spaced at the widest point, maybe a dozen feet apart 
or so maximum spacing. Placing radials out to a half mile or 
more and keeping them 12 feet apart at the open ends would 
be a heap of wire!

That is why no one bothers worrying about extra length to 
modify gain at low wave angles.  It would be cheaper to just 
move to a salt water marsh.

73 Tom