[TowerTalk] Ground radials- the long and short of it - Another question

[Don Havlicek]

Comments inserted below:

Robert Shohet wrote:
> With respect to the "radial field",  how essential is it
> to have the radials evenly spaced in a full circle?

Not essential .. but makes the antenna pattern more uniform.

> 
> Or asked another way,  if you can get 40-50  1/4 wave
> radials down, but you have to eliminate 40 or 50% of
> the "circle", how dramatically would that affect performance?

"Dramatically" is subjective.  If you can get 40-50 radials down .. 
don't worry about "1/4-wave" in length .. just make them as long as you 
can.  In fact, if you could make most of them longer than 1/4-wave, you 
can control the base impedance of your vertical more easily.

> 
> Let's say you can put down the radials from NE around to SW and 
> then only shortened radials from SW to NW and nothing from
> NW to NE, does that drastically affect the performance of the antenna?

"Drastically" ... see comment about "Dramatically" above .. it's 
subjective.  Will it work ... sure .. will the antenna pattern be unlike 
the 'handbook' patterns ... yes ... will you work DX ... that's up to 
your operating skills and whether or not you're adept!

> Can any reduction in performance be meaningfully compensated for
> by putting down MORE radials in the remaining area?

My 80m vertical [soon to come down and move to Michigan!] is 60' of 
aluminum towering with 100 radials .. 60 are equally spaced at 6-degrees 
each .. and there are 4 more 'intensely placed' sections of 10 
additional radials ... placed at 45-degrees [Europe], 140-degrees 
[Carib], 270-degrees [VK/ZL], and 340-degrees [JA-asia].

There are critics who say I wasted those 40 additional radials .. but 
the 163 countries worked in the first month of using the vertical 
[WITHOUT CONTESTING!] means something is working right!

Good luck!
73
Don
N8DE

> 
> Please advise.  Thanks & 73
> 
> Bob KQ2M
> 
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