Topband: I need help proofing an Inverted L model I made please. 40’ x 143’, four 100’ radials, #14 wire.

[Jeff Blaine]

N6LF Rudy's web site and associated QEX series has empirical data to 
answer all of these questions regarding the number and length of on 
ground radials.

73/jeff/ac0c
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie
www.ac0c.com


On 12/10/20 11:14 AM, Mark - N5OT wrote:
> Yeah.  I don't claim to be a radial expert but I do claim to have a 
> lot of experience working other stations on 160 meters.
>
> My buddy W9RE told me on a DXpedition once that he built a dipole 
> laying on the ground and it resonated on 160 when the wires were about 
> 80 feet long.
>
> Ray, with respect (N6VR and I go back a LOOOONG way), I think 80 feet 
> is the "new quarter wave radial" on 160, and frankly the only thing I 
> really think I understand about verticals is, the more wire on the 
> ground, the better, but you can get to a point where adding more is 
> not worth the effort, YMMV etc.
>
> My story for the week is:  I put up yet another temporary 160 vertical 
> for the ARRL 160 last weekend, and only managed 14 radials before it 
> got so dark I thought I better be getting on the air.
>
> I worked 970 QSOs that night, including 5 Europeans, and while I was 
> out there on Saturday adding more radials, I got a text from K5ZD 
> saying I was an alligator, that I was very loud the night before, but 
> couldn't hear him calling me for 10 minutes as he needed Oklahoma.
>
> So I stopped adding radials, I was up to 22 radials at 80' long, and 
> moved on to listening antennas.
>
> Worked maybe 10 Europeans and counted 10 JAs, so I know my signal was 
> getting to those places.
>
> That's really all I know about that.
>
> The vertical is 50 feet tall and has two symmetrical top-load wires 
> that bring the resonant frequency to 1.8 MHz.
>
> 73 - Mark N5OT
>
> P.S. Got an email from a guy in South Dakota who worked 376 QSOs 
> (including 4 other countries) using an inverted L that was 20 feet up 
> and the rest horizontal, fed against 20 radials 25' long in his yard.  
> I love stories like that.
>
>
> On 12/10/2020 9:52 AM, Wes wrote:
>> IMHO, for that number, on-the-ground radials do not need to be 
>> anywhere near that long.  Personally, I subscribe to the 
>> same-length-as-the-vertical guideline.
>>
>> My inverted-L is 55 feet of vertical tubing plus the horizontal 
>> wire.  My insulated, on the ground radials are 55.5 feet (9 radials 
>> out of a 500 ft roll of wire). By serendipity, measuring one radial 
>> against all of the rest with a VNWA it is resonant at 1.84 MHz.  To 
>> be fair, I still have fewer radials than planned (18 vs. 36) in which 
>> case, shorter is actually better according to Belrose and Severns 
>> (https://www.antennasbyn6lf.com/files/antenna_ground_system_experiment_4.pdf).
>>
>> Wes  N7WS
>>
>>
>> On 12/9/2020 7:00 PM, Raymond Benny wrote:
>>> If your vertical is ground mounted you need alot [sic] more. I'd say 
>>> atleast 36
>>> radials, 135ft long. It will make a big difference in your signal 
>>> and be
>>> easier to match.
>>>
>>> I have over 100 radials but probably an over kill, but I feel I have 
>>> a good
>>> signal on 160m.
>>>
>>> Ray,
>>> N6VR/ W7YA
>>>
>>
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