Topband: Radials help

Herb Schoenbohm herbs at vitelcom.net
Fri Feb 10 09:07:37 PST 2012



On 2/10/2012 12:48 PM, Eddy Swynar wrote:
>
> On 2012-02-10, at 11:34 AM, Herb Schoenbohm wrote:
>
>> One advantage of using insulate wire is that the velocity factor of 
>> the wire
>> on ground or (ROG) allows for shorter lengths.  This is important if you
>> have limited yard space.
>
>
>
> */Hi Herb,/*
>
> Interesting point...!
>
> According to either the ARRL "*/ANTENNA HANDBOOK/*", or ON4UN's 
> "*/LOW-BAND DX HANDBOOK/*", the velocity factor of insulated wire 
> placed atop the ground is *50%*...
>
> I take that to mean that a 1/8-wave /PHYSICALLY/long wire radial has 
> the /ELECTRICAL/equivalency of a wire radial that is 1/4-wave long...
>
> Maybe /THAT'S/the reason why I employ a total of 24 insulated radial 
> wires, 65' long (each) beneath my "L" elements...it may not be an 
> "exact science", but hope springs eternal...! (Besides, have you seen 
> the price of copper wire lately...?!). *: >)*
>
> */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/*


Eddy, The insulated rabbit wire ground screen laying on the ground...may 
provide a very adequate solution to those with limited space.  The price 
of this material is very reasonable compared to the area it will 
cover...and will most likely last and perform better than bare plain 
chicken wire.

Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ


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