Topband: Beverage antenna ground

[Art]

Victor A. Kean, Jr. wrote:
> My experience is confined to Ohio, and the relatively good ground
> around here.  Also, I don't think I've ever had to depend on a 
> Beverage shorter than 400 feet on 160.
>
> Note that my current crop of Beverages all use 5 foot pieces of
> 1 inch copper water pipe.  On a couple of these antennas, I've tried
> more elaborate ground systems without seeing any improvement.
>
> In the past, I've also used small radial system, like 32 25 foot
> radials.  These have also worked just fine.
>   
In our soil (Rocky Mtns) the copper 1 inch pipe does not play.  Up here 
a good way to make a 5 ft pipe into a 6 inch pipe is try to drive it 
into the ground. What I've been able to do is get copper clad steel gnd 
rods in somewhere between 18 inches and 3 ft. My 2 wire bidirectional 
700 ft  Beverage has directivity of perhaps a couple S units, no more, I 
guess that would be 10dB tops?  Maybe I should be using radials however 
the critters would make short work of them. I do have a ground wire on 
the ground between the ground rods at each end. The RG6 shield shares 
the feed end ground stake, perhaps using a second rod just for the 
shield would help?

My local supplier of gnd rods, Home Depot, seems to be supplying 
aluminized steel now vice Cu clad. I hope they work as well. I'm at the 
far end of the supply chain.

73 Art
Allison CO