[80m] Elevated radials for 80M

Tue, 1 Oct 2002 22:39:59 -0400

Larry,

I have used foursquares on 80M and 40M for many years, and I have
tried them with elevated radials and ground mounted radials. While
it is impossible to do a pure comparison test of the two, my experience
is that the ground mounted radials work better, especially when you
get 20-30 or more of them down. On the foursquare, this affects both
the forward gain and the front-to-back ratio, no matter what the antenna
modelling programs say (they tend to have trouble with ground-mounted
verticals and radials). Nonetheless, if you don't have the room for a full
system
or if you can't abide the annual labor to run the ground radials, four
elevated radials do work. On a single vertical, they are probably very
close to the performance of 40 ground radials and within a 2 or 3 db's
of 60-120 radials. Good luck; maybe the low bands will be better this
season.

73,
Stan, W4AG

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On
Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 12:58 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [80m] Elevated radials for 80M

Hi to all.

I am a new member of this reflector and have a few questions on elevated
radials.

I have a vertical for 80M and when I put it up for the winter, I would
rather
not put down the 40+ radials. I have read that only a few (2-4) elevalated
radials can be used in place of my extensive ground system.

My questions are;

1) How many and how high should the radials be off the ground and do they
all
have to be in a straight line, or can they zig zag and slope downward?

2) the approx length should be 240/freq.

3) what type of wire is recommended, # 14, #18..etc.

Any other information will be greatly appreciated.

For more information abt me and my 80M experiences, please see my web page,
on the left side, click my 75M vertical
<A HREF="http://n2lh.tripod.com">
N2LH web page</A>

Thank all that reply es vy 73..

Larry..N2LH
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