Topband: Radials through heavy brush (Was:Radials over a stone wall)

[Gary K9GS]

Here's how I lay radials in the woods with heavy brush.

I have a ~15 foot long piece of wooden oak stairway handrail.  The kind 
you see for basement stairs.  It's about 2 inches in diameter and has a 
flat on one side so it's D shaped in cross section.

With the flat facing down, cut a bevel on each end at a ~30-45 degree 
angle to the flat.  Looking from the side it looks kinda like this:

<_______________>

In each end I screw in a small screw eye.

To lay a radial, lay the handrail on the ground, flat side down, and tie 
the radial to either screw eye.  If there is a lot of "stuff" to go 
through that's close to the ground it's easier to tie the radial to the 
trailing screw eye.  Then, keeping the flat on the ground use the 
handrail like a needle to thread it under/through the brush. You can 
sometimes give it a good push and it will go right through. This is 
where it helps to have a longer/heavier handrail.

Then I work my way around the brush pile and get to the end of the 
handrail.  Then just untie the wire.  I usually tie the end of the wire 
to a 3-4 inch long nail and just push the nail into the ground to hold 
the end in place.

The length of the handrail also helps to keep the radials evenly 
spaced.  You can keep the end closest to the antenna aligned with the 
base and use the previously laid radial as a guide to keep things even.

Wear a long-sleeved shirt or your arms will look like you were in a cat 
fight.  Around here (Wisconsin) our brush is typically "Buckthorn" which 
is covered with 1/4 inch long very sharp thorns.......<ouch>.

This works really well for me...YMMV


On 8/10/2012 11:26 AM, Bill Wichers wrote:
>
> I use a wire pulling tool called a "creep-zit" to pull radials under
> fallen trees and logs in the woods. It works great. I basically just
> take one of the 6 foot long fiberglass rods (each of which is a little
> over 1/8" diameter), tape the radial to one end, and then I can push it
> under fallen debris easily. With a little practice you can even get
> around hidden obstructions in the ground this way.
>
>    -Bill
>
>

-- 


73,

Gary K9GS

Greater Milwaukee DX Association: http://www.gmdxa.org
Society of Midwest Contesters: http://www.w9smc.com
CW Ops #1032   http://www.cwops.org

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