[TowerTalk] Vertical in the swamp

[Gary Schafer]

Thanks for the info Walter. 
My swamp is located in North eastern Wisconsin. No salt around the area. I
may put a vertical in there or beside it and give it a try. It of course
would be much easier to put up a vertical on clear ground rather than
fighting the brush, trees and water in the swamp. This swamp does have water
that runs thru it during the spring but pretty much sets the rest of the
time.

73
Gary  K4FMX

> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:towertalk-
> bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Carrington, Walter
> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:19 AM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Vertical in the swamp
> 
> Is swamp water conductive?
> Fresh water swamps have a lot of stuff suspended or dissolved in the
> water. The conductivity might be much higher than pure water.
> A quick google:
> Great Salt Lake = 158,000 uS/cm
> Salt water is about 50,000 microSiemen/cm  (uS/cm)
> Atlantic Ocean = 43000 uS/cm
> Drinkable water -- less than 3000 uS/cm  (and you'd prefer <1000 )
> Irrigation water -- 3000 to 6000 for  salt tolerant plants.
> Lake Mead = 850 uS/cm
> Lake Superior = 97 uS/cm
> Soil conductivity in New England = 10 to 20 uS/cm  (Map ARRL Antenna
> Handbook).
> Deionized water = .05 uS/cm
> "Fresh" water swamps =  250 to 37000 by one Australian study,  but
> conditions were strange there (the 37000 was almost dry,  all were drying
> out).
> My guess for swamps = 250 to 3000
> 
> >From what I can find online,  your conductivity ought to be 10 to 100
> times mine.
> It ought to be more conductive than Lake Superior for sure, i.e.,
> substantially better than a clean lake.
> If your swamp gets drier seasonally the conductivity should go up when
> it's drier but still liquid.
> 
> These numbers make it look like a fresh water swamp will be better for
> radio than almost all soils and most fresh water lakes but not as good as
> salt water.
> 
> I wonder if the swamp at the bottom of my hill helps on 2 meters.
> --Walter, K1CMF
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