[TowerTalk] Radial Ends Buried???

[Steve Dyer W1SRD]

I have a mish-mash of long, short, insulated, bare, solid, stranded, 
thick, thin, on ground and below ground radials for 80 and 160 that has 
accumulated over the years.
It doesn't matter. What matters is how many and length (coverage) with 
rapidly diminishing returns after 60 or so. Plenty of research to back 
that number. Make them as long as you can and as symmetrical as you can 
for the land you have. If you have land to do a beautiful circle of 
perfectly sized radials, great. Otherwise do the best you can.
Point being there is no reason for hand wringing over it. Tenths of a dB 
on the low bands just don't matter.

73,
Steve
W1SRD

On 11/18/2022 10:23 AM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On 11/18/2022 8:38 AM, Test wrote:
>> I'm about to install 20 radials for a Hi-Gain AV-18HT and Hi-Gain 
>> recommends
>> burying the Radial ends if installing less than 60 radials.
>
> There is ZERO reason for radials making electrical contact with the 
> earth. Their function is to provide return current for the antenna IN 
> PLACE OF the earth, which is very lossy (that is, it wastes 
> transmitter power), and to SHIELD the antenna's fields from the earth.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
>
>
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