[TowerTalk] Radials for a 4 sq system - wire size and mixes sizes

[Jim Lux]

At 02:15 PM 5/10/2006, Richard Williams wrote:
>Question - Do you have to use the same size wire for all the radials under a
>vertical?  What if you use two different gauges of wife (say #14 and #18);
>14 has the capability to carry more current than 18,  so does that mean the
>14 gauge wire carrys the lions share and the #18 radials are effectively
>"not in the picture".    Or when using a lot of radials is the current so
>small in each that it doesn't make any difference if you use different size
>wire in the ground radial system


Not a huge amount of current in the wire, so melting isn't an issue. So, 
what you're looking at is resistance. It's RF, so the current is  in the 
surface of the wire, and the resistance will go roughly linearly as the 
diameter.  AWG14 is a bit more than 1.4 times the diameter of AWG18, so the 
resistance is about 40% lower.  Since AWG 18 less than half the price of 
AWG14, you might actually be better off with more thinner wire.

As far as mixing.. I doubt you could tell any difference.



>I am sure with more knowledge on the subject than me will be able to "set
>the record straight" and dispell any myths on ground radials systems.
>
>Dick K8ZTT
>
>
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