[TowerTalk] Radial material choice and effect

[Lee Buller]

Do not use electric fence wire.  It will disappear if you bury it.  Rust into nothing very quickly.  Gone in a matter of a year or so.  I never bury my radials, just lay them on the ground and pin them with "lawn staples" I make in my shop.

What I use is rather different.  I go to the local garage door installer.  He has hundreds of feet of the wire they use from the opener to the open/close button - and to the electric eye sensors.  The company sends way to much and he uses a roll for about three jobs.  He tosses the other rolls in a box and I go get them.  They are two wire conductor #22 or there abouts....and I just use both conductors....solder ends together...and attached the the radials as one wire.  It is free for the taking in my case.  Each roll has about 95 feet of wire in it.

Scrounge!

Lee Buller - K0WA


In our day and age it seems that Common Sense is in short supply.  If you don't have any Common Sense - get some Common Sense and use it.  If you can't find any Common Sense, ask for help from somebody who has some Common Sense.  Is Common Sense divine?

--- On Tue, 2/17/09, Bill Aycock <baycock at hughes.net> wrote:
From: Bill Aycock <baycock at hughes.net>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Radial material choice and effect
To: "TowerTalk" <towertalk at contesting.com>
Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 1:14 PM

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
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