[TowerTalk] ground wire thoughts

[Jim Brown]

On 12/24/2020 2:21 PM, w5jmw at towerfarm.net wrote:
> Jim,what about the crossing of the radials.Isn't doing that not 
> recommended?

That's primarily an issue with antenna arrays. You still want as many 
runs of copper as practical radiating out from the base of each vertical 
antenna.

Right now I can do either.I am confined to such a pattern
> due to me antenna placement.I have a overhead power run alomg my east 
> fence and a metel fence along my west.I have already attached to both as 
> a ground.really more of a lightning dispersal path. 

Yes, but there's a big inductor in series with the earth connections 
that the fence makes, which defeats its purpose for lightning 
protection. Above low audio frequencies, inductance dominates the 
electrical impedance, and lightning is primarily an RF event, not a DC 
event. The energy in a strike has a VERY broad peak more or less in the 
middle of the AM broadcast band. The noise we OFs remember from 
listening to the radio late at night are nothing more than the sum of 
many thousands of lightning strikes, propagated to our antennas.

> I might point out 
> that I do have pretty good soil.I have very dense clay in certain at abt 
> 3-4 foot.It does stop water sippage to a point.Also we have an aerobic 
> septic system which the spray nozzles are located in thi same pasture.

Losses in the system will be lower with better soil conductivity.

73, Jim K9YC