[TowerTalk] Radial material choice and effect

[Bill Aycock]

I am considering adding radials as an adjunct to an inverted L antenna. I am referring to the discussion in chapter 3 of the ARRL Antenna book, 20th edition, as a starting place. The material used there is only referred to as Copper, 12 to 22 g, and is considered to be suitable.

Besides Copper, which is currently quite expensive, readily available materials such as Aluminum and Stainless steel electric fence wire are often mentioned. I am considering shallow buried wires, with at least 36 radials.

Can anyone tell me, or give a reference to data, that compares the effectiveness of the different materials, with Copper as the base for comparison?

Thanks- Bill-W4BSG