[TowerTalk] Radial field question Single radial wires vs mesh and more

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

Rob Sherwood was the Engineer in charge at KOA Radio 850 here in 
Colorado a 50kW station for many years.  I got to visit the Transmitter 
site once.  Quite impressive tour!

W0MU


On 10/28/2016 10:18 AM, Bob K6UJ wrote:
> Rob,
>
> Kevin Kidd of AM Ground Systems could learn from us mere amateurs.
> You don't necessarily need to "spend the money" and use copper mesh.
> Jim mentioned Rob Sherwood's contribution of using galvanized ground 
> screen.  I used his
> ground screen system he presented and had great results.  Still intact 
> when I took it up.
> I had the four sections of galvanized mesh extending out in four 
> directions and used it for years until recently when I went to 
> elevated radials about 12 feet above the ground.  As Jim stated with 
> the chemical makeup of our soil at any given QTH it may work in one 
> location and not another.  Its not very expensive and worth trying. In 
> my case it worked well.  Your premise that we should not use the 
> galvanized mesh cannot be regarded as universally valid.  It is a good 
> option to "try" at our individual stations. Certainly more cost 
> effective than copper mesh.............
>
> Bob
> K6UJ
>
>
>
> On 10/28/16 3:42 AM, Rob Atkinson wrote:
>>> Some pretty sharp engineers disagree with this advice. Rob Sherwood, 
>>> NC0B, first published on the usefulness of galvanized ground screen 
>>> in 1977, and talked about it in >presentations in the Dayton Antenna 
>>> Forum in 2008 and 2009. Rob is best known for his work on 
>>> quantifying the receive performance of modern HF rigs. Like anything 
>>> making >contact with the chemical makeup of soil and local moisture 
>>> at any given QTH, materials that work in one location may not work 
>>> in another.
>> You can go to all the trouble of putting down "mesh" and risk having
>> to do it all over again since that is a material and product not
>> intended to be in contact with the ground.
>>
>> Or you can spend the money and do it right from the get-go, except
>> that in professional installations, copper mesh or screen, is only
>> used with voltage fed towers.  For most ham situations the tower base
>> is a current maximum, i.e. a 90 degree radiator base fed, and for that
>> a radial ring and ground system made up of radiators is fine.
>>
>> Who are all these "sharp engineers?"   Kevin Kidd of AM Ground Systems
>> Inc. has probably done more professional AM tower ground system
>> installations and re-builds across the U.S. then all of your "sharp
>> engineers" combined.
>>
>> There's nothing wrong with being a cheap ham at the hamfest, but the
>> ground system is one area where cheap just buys trouble within a year
>> or even a few months.
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Rob
>> K5UJ
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>>
>>
>>
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