[TowerTalk] Fire hazard with inverted L ??

[Jim Brown]

On 9/4/2017 8:52 AM, Bob Shohet, KQ2M wrote:
> It’s not an issue.  There is even less chance of this happening if you use pvc coated wire as I do (rather than bare wire).

YMMV. I haven't started a fire, but one end of a 160M dipole was 
scorched where it had made intimate contact with the green part of the 
redwood that supported it. Remember that the ends of most antennas are 
high voltage points, so are more likely to arc over and do that. And if 
that happens when the vegetation is quite dry, you could have a wildland 
fire.

Soon after moving here, I experimented with loading a top-loaded 
vertical on 80M that was nearly a half wave on that band, matching it 
with an inductor and capacitor. The capacitor was a short open length of 
RG8 laying on the ground. Because it was close to a half wave, it was 
also a high voltage point After transmitting for a while at legal limit, 
I came out to adjust it, and found dry grass around the end of the coax 
very close to combustion.

Others (W8JI, for one) have cautioned about the need to insulate the 
ends of radials.

73, Jim K9YC