[TowerTalk] elevated verticals....radial config.

[Jim Jarvis]

If you have a limited number of radials, as in 2,
you will definitely have favored directions.

In fact, even with 4 or more, you have to consider
that the mean vertical angle of the lowest lobe will
vary....being lower where the radials are present, and
higher in between, as Dale observes, below:

-0-
When I was a kid living in Whittier, CA, I had a roof-mounted 14avq with the
requisite pair of radials cut for each band.  The radials were strung out
the length of our house roof -- North-South.  I'm sure the years have
obscured/warped my perception of what I may have experienced, but it seems
like I worked a truckload more stations in the pacific NW/VE7/KL7/JA/UA than
to the east and west.  So, are there directional effects by the placement of
a pair of radials?  Or did I just imagine it?

73,
dale, kg5u
-0-

For the record, I still like the idea of the "halfwave" vertical...as in the
Cushcraft R7k or R8 design, where it can go on top of a tower, without the
spiderweb of radials.  Neat, clean, decent pattern, reasonable efficiency.

Is it the ultimate in performance?  Not compared to a single band vertical.
Is it pretty close?  On 40 and higher, yes.  On lower bands, a properly
installed
quarter wave vertical with in-ground radial system is preferred.  But if you
can't
DO that...and have big trees....an elevated GP will work amazingly well,
over most
soil.

N2EA
jimjarvis at ieee.org