Topband: Radials, EZNEC and far field

[Ignacy Misztal]

Do more radials on a 160m vertical bring more improvements than shown
by simulation?

Most simulations, e.g. by EZNEC, show that going above 32 radials on 160m
brings  minimal improvement, say 1 db to 2 max. Even for low angle signals.

On the other hand, some really loud stations on 160m, that are 5-10 db above
 the crowd, use a massive amount of radials. This is for inland  stations,
far away from salt water.

Is there any discrepancy between modeling by EZNEC and real life
performance with the number of radials? Does adding radials beyond 32 help
much for low angles?

Any real story?

I have a shunt-fed 100 ft tower with 36 100ft radials. It is vastly
inferior to a 40 ft high  inv L with 1 radial by salt water that hears DX
loud 2 hrs before the sunset. I am wondering whether by  expanding to 50
200ft radials would narrow the difference.

 Ignacy NO9E