Topband: Laying ground radials

[Brian Pease]

when I buried all of the cables for my tower 100m from the shack, a 
neighbor used his small tractor to pull an ancient small modified plow.  
The left side of the blade was removed, so it cut a small furrow and 
flipped the lawn and field sod to just one side.  This took 10-15 
minutes.  I stood on the plow and held it upright.  Then I dropped the 
cables onto the hole and flipped the sod back over it with my foot.
This would still be a lot of work for a radial field.  A device to slit 
the ground and bury the wire ij one step is shown in ON4UN's Low Band 
DXing book.
I used cheap insulated army field phone wire for radials in the unused 
field that I mowed first.   Insulation makes zero difference.  Nec4.2 
agrees.
Too bad the livestock are there.  In one season here the weeds & grass 
grew up and were matted down by snow & rain so you would never know I 
had laid 137 radials on the surface!

On 6/6/2018 7:31 PM, VK3HJ wrote:
> Later this year, I plan to lay down an in-ground radial field. I have 
> sourced a copper wire supplier and have costed approximately 2000 m of 
> 1.2 mm bare copper at around $800.
>
> Presently, I use an elevated counterpoise of 4 x quarterwave radials 
> each for 180 and 80 m.
>
> I need to lay the wire just under the turf as I have livestock in the 
> paddock.
>
> The radial field will be mostly in shallow mountain soil, with a 
> couple of surface granite rocks to negotiate, as well as a large gum 
> tree on one edge with many surface roots.
>
> I have a tractor, but feel that this will churn up the ground too much 
> with the density of the work to be done. I have a ride-on mower that 
> may be more useful.
>
> I will need to lay in the radials by hand around the rocks and tree 
> roots, but would like to do it more easily for the rest of the job!
>
> What sort of implement can I obtain or create for this job?
>
> 73,
>
> Luke VK3HJ
>
> _________________
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