Topband: Using 4 - 6 elevated radials in lieu of 120 buried wires

[Stan Stockton]

In 1980 based on advice from a friend who had done a lot of government antenna work for WWV, VOA (I think), I put up 192 feet of Rohn 25G (!) solely dedicated to 160 Meters and had 9 radials (3 from each tower leg) attached at 60 feet.  The tower, with 6 levels of guy wires all broken up with insulators into non resonant lengths for all 6 bands, was located in the middle of a 5 acre plot of land. Although the radials sloped down, the ends were quite high.  The top 132 feet of the tower was shunt fed.  

It’s hard to say just how good it was because 44 years ago the competition was not so great on 160.  However, I’ve never come anywhere near as close, before or since, to thinking I had the best transmit antenna of anyone on any band.  

Unfortunately due to a job situation I had to move about a year after putting it up. But it was fun for a year or so.

73…Stan, K5GO/ZF9CW

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 5, 2024, at 9:59 AM, Jeff Blaine <KeepWalking188 at ac0c.com> wrote:
> 
> There is another practical issue here.  I would agree that elevated radials can work great.  But in practice, MAINTENANCE of the elevated radials is a non-ending headache.  Around here we have deer and ice and wind and on and on.  I ran various 40m 4SQ elevated radial schemes for years and eventually went to an in-ground installation because I was tired of the hassle.
> 
> You are probably a far better mechanical and electrical hand than I am.  But this maintenance aspect of elevated radials is something I don't think gets enough mention.
> 
> 73/jeff/ac0c
> alpha-charlie-zero-charlie
> www.ac0c.com
> 
>> On 1/5/2024 8:42 AM, Wes Stewart via Topband wrote:
>> I was about to recommend Rudy's work.  He is a prolific experimenter and writer; reading his stuff will answer almost anything you ever what to know about vertical antennas, ground systems and receiving antennas.
>> I have a folder on my hard drive with 30-40 of his papers.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>   On Friday, January 5, 2024 at 01:03:55 AM MST, Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Some thoughts about that particular installation and why it worked well,
>> based on my study of Rudy Severns' excellent work on the topic.
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