[TowerTalk] ground and conductivity

[Tom Rauch]

The 15th edition, ARRL Antenna Handbook, cites ranges for
conductivity:

Poor soil                                     1-5
milliseimens per meter
Average soil and fresh water      10-15 milliseimens per
meter
Very good soil                              100 milliseimens
per meter
Salt water                                    1000
milliseimens per meter

<<

I don't know where the Handbook got that data.


Salt water is generally accepted at 5000 mS/m. Always has
been, and still is as far as I know. All my BC conductivity
charts show it in the range of 5000mS/m.

The Great Lakes with ALL their pollutants are 8mS/m at 1
MHz. We measured about that amount in BC proofs.
Uncontaminated fresh water would be much worse in
conductivity, probably a few mS/m.

Very good soil is considered to be around 20-30mS/m, not
anywhere near 100.

The best soil we found around Ohio was near 35mS/m in the
old Black Swamp. It was an acidic sandy loam nearly
saturated with water.