[TowerTalk] Rooftop vertical grounding [SUMMARY]

[Tom Osborne]

berferd wrote:

> So instead I'm going to ground mount the Butternut in the >middle of my backyard with a buried radial system.
> 

Hi Jeff

If possible, the antenna would work a lot better and require a
lot fewer radials if you could mount it 8 or 10 feet in the air. 
Verticals with raised radials work much better that buried
radials.  The purpose of the radials is to transfer the power
back to the feed point of the antenna for efficiency.  When the
radials are buried, it is harder for the RF to get to them for
the return path.  Think of the radial system as the other half of
a dipole antenna.  I have 3 phased verticals here and a 160 meter
inverted "L" antenna with many many radials.  Mine are just
laying on top of the ground as there is nothing the back yard
except trees and brush.  With a ground mounted radial system, it
takes about 60 radial to make it play, but with raised verticals
and radials, you can get by with as little as 4 radials and make
the antenna play.  The radials are not on the antenna for
grounding purposes but to to provide a path for the return the RF
back to the feed point.  73
Tom W7WHY

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