[TowerTalk] re Radials

[Bill Coleman]

On Jun 14, 2006, at 9:46 AM, Dave Tipton wrote:

> Where it gets wierd, is that when you bury the radials, you can get  
> away with much shorter runs, primarily because 4 or 5 radials 20  
> feet long, will actually couple to ground nicely if buried.  No  
> need for full 1/4 wavelength radials if they're under ground.. It  
> all gets muddled pretty quickly once their an inch under the surface.

I don't think that 4 or 5 20 foot radials are going to be a terribly  
effective groundplane for a 160m vertical.... Even if you bury them.

True, the far ends of the wire do less and less "work" of a ground- 
mounted radial system. If you had 60 1/4 wave radials and 60 1/2 wave  
radials, the 1/2 wavers would be slightly more effective -- but only  
slightly - perhaps a fraction of a dB. So, was it worth using twice  
the wire?

With ground-mounted radials, .22 or .20 wavelength radials will be  
nearly as effective as .25 wavelength, especially if you use 20-30 or  
more.



Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901