Topband: How good is good enough

[Grant Saviers]

The 34 ohms is the sum of Rr (antenna radiation Z over perfect ground) 
and Rg (ground R loss).  Rr depends on the dimensions of the L plus a 
bit of wire loss.  My guess is Rr is about 10 ohms less than 34 ohms, 
some easy modeling will determine it.

Then it is a question of what antenna efficiency you want vs cost and 
time for more radials.  If 10 ohms is Rg, then about 1/3 of the TX power 
is warming the worms.

Grant KZ1W

On 11/12/2022 07:31, ws6x.ars at gmail.com wrote:
> In my experience here in "ROCK"ingham County, I didn't reach the point of diminishing returns until around 32 radials of varying lengths (Most were either 50 or 100' long.). Much would depend on length, configuration, terrain and ground conductivity.
> Jim - WS6X
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Topband <topband-bounces+ws6x.ars=gmail.com at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Pete Smith N4ZR
> Sent: Monday, November 7, 2022 4:27 PM
> To: topband reflector <Topband at contesting.com>
> Subject: Topband: How good is good enough
> 
> Now that the lawn mowing is done for the season, I resuscitated my 160M inverted L.  With 13 on the ground radials, each roughly 70 feet long, measured R of 34 ohms seems OK to me.  Is it worth laying down more radials, or am I approaching diminishing returns?
> --
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> 
> 
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