[TowerTalk] Laying out radials around a stone fence

[Jim Brown]

On 5/14/2018 5:44 AM, Kelly Taylor wrote:
> Interesting observation, no doubt accurate given the qualifications of VE6LO, but I wonder to what extent this reconciles with assertions by K9YC, and, I think, N6LF, about radials serving to shield the radiated signal from the lossy earth as much as they serve as a return path for RF current.

My publication on this was in http://k9yc.com/160MPacificon.pdf which is 
largely about antenna and counterpoise systems for 160M. None of it is 
original to me -- rather, it summarizes the work of others, much of the 
best of which is by Rudy Severns, N6LF.

My 160M Tee vertical is about 25 ft from the building that houses my 
shack, so the radials that run in that direction end there. I have about 
60 radials that vary in length from about 60 ft to about 125 ft. All 
were laid on the ground about ten years ago, and mostly overgrown. 
Occasionally the deer manage to kick or drag one of them.
>
> I seem to recall some work by K9YC and others on the positive effects of radials that weren’t even connected to antennas that, unlike a quarter-wave monopole, were already complete (such as dipoles both vertical and horizontal), and thus the radials didn’t serve as a return path, but instead helped reflect radiation that would normally be swallowed up by the earth.

I have not written about this, but I think N6BT may have.  Tom is the 
original engineer/owner of Force 12, and a very bright guy. He has done 
a lot of serious work with vertical antennas. http://www.k2kw.com/

73, Jim K9YC