Topband: Earth conductivity

[Gary Hinson]

> Beverages don't work as well over salt water, or very highly
> conductive earth, and that's just physics, not poor construction.

Talking of that, any idea how conductive my soil might be?  It's about 12" of topsoil on a clay
base, the depth of which exceeds any holes I have yet dug.  It's the sort of solid Real Man's Clay I
could probably lever out with a spade, leave to dry in the sun, and build a house from.  If they's
have asked me, I'd have offered to make the heat-refractive tiles for the space shuttle from it.

I know I really ought to measure it, and I have the design somewhere hereabouts for the gizmo to
measure ground conductivity which I *will* build one day.  And I may be lucky enough to find
geological maps of this area at some point to find out what lurks beneath.  But for now, what do you
say: is topsoil-over-clay high, medium or low conductivity in the grand scheme of things?  

And, given that, what are the implications?   

I have ~20 acres of the stuff, with access to hundreds more in the pine forest surrounding our
clearing, so I'd like to plan some cracking antennas for Topband.  The QTH is basically a N/S ridge
about 200ft wide, topped with 80ft pines, with 45-degree slopes (too steep for this farming novice
to risk a quad-bike on) to E and W.

What would the panel suggest?

73 
Gary  ZL2iFB