Topband: Radials on ground v FCP

[CUTTER DAVID]

Thanks, Rick.  

My particular circumstances limit me to a small triangle of ground in the corner of a field and the FCP suits that very well.  It would be interesting to know how the FCP compares to something well known, like a broadcast station ground.  

I like the idea of the spiral counterpoise:  I experimented with a one turn counterpoise in EZNEC
at 3 m above ground level.  It looked workable but too big for my space, so, I could make that into a spiral and perhaps not be too concerned about symmetry.  However, looking to Guy's idea of stacking the wires vertically so they  shade the ground underneath might be worth a try. Compressing things always seems to limit bandwidth, so, that's something to be wary of.  

David G3UNA  

 
> On 09 January 2022 at 16:22 "Richard (Rick) Karlquist" <richard at karlquist.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> On 1/9/2022 4:51 AM, CUTTER DAVID via Topband wrote:
> > Hi Rob
> > 
> > I see copper prices have doubled in the last year.
> > 
> > My intention is to compare and contrast the cost and performance of short verticals over a large field of ground radials v the very modest amount of wire required for the FCP.  In Guy's article
> > 
> 
> This is a false dichotomy between FCP and a broadcast station ground 
> screen.  The best use of wire is to have a small number of elevated 
> tuned radials with proper RF choking.  As shown by N6LF, you can do well 
> with just 8 radials, about 100 feet long each.  On 160 meters, they 
> should be 20 feet high for optimum performance.  BTW, cheap aluminum 
> electric fence wire works perfectly for elevated radials  Also consider 
> N6BT's single spiral radial configuration as an alternative to FCP.
> 
> Rick N6RK