[TowerTalk] Teach me how to load an 160 Inverted-L

[Lee Buller]

I have an inverted-L that is roughly 58-feet vertically and 72 feet horizontal with a little slope downward.....well quite a bit of a slope.  I have a ground of sorts but need to work on that part.  Ground is to an 8 foot ground rod at the  base of the tower.  The verticle component runs up the tower about three feet away from the tower.  I have five radial wires (not enough I know) that run to the edge of the property...anywhere from 80 to 60 feet.  All this on a city lot.
 
Now, to me, this antenna is a long wire type antenna which I have used before and matched it with a simple L/C network or C/L network.  Previously, I have placed a variable cap of about 500 pf in series with the feedline to  bring the antenna into resonance.  I do not think 500 pf is enough and tried 1000pf and that did not work very well either.  Finally out of frustration, I just put the old SPC tuner on it and loaded up the wired and started making contacts.  This year, I want to make sure I am doing it right for 160 meters.  You would think that the Inverted-L should be pretty close to a match on its own since it is a quarter wave on 160.  How exactly it is a quarter wave is not known.  So, I was thinking that I might have to add some L along with the C.  
 
So, when you load your Inverted-L...now much C are you using?  What is the type of capactor you are using?  I've used small BC condensors and can get 100 watts to work with that failry easily.  Are  you adding any L?
 
Just thought I would ask these questions to see what your experience has been.  I am looking for the collective wisdom of the reflector.
 
Lee - k0WA