[Antennas] Putting up a vertical

[David W Sher]

I have been using Butternut HF6V and HF9V for several years. Base of the
antenna is about 10' above ground.  Due to space limitations in my back
yard (including a red maple tree that my XYL would kill me if it was
removed, I found that three of the Butternut radials (40-10)gave
satisfactory SWR except for 80.  Replacing one of the compound radials
with one 80 meter 1/4 L radial gave me a 1.3/1 SWR, but with a bandwidth
of only about 50 KHz.  Play around.

One weak spot in the Butternuts is where Tube B is connected to the base
insulator.  It tends to rock around the bolt, causing the base to split. 
I am now using a hose clamp just below the bolt, to keep oscillation
down.  And yes, nylon (or equivalent) guys will help a lot.

Dave    W9LYA
e^(i*pi)+1 = 0

On Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:41:15 -0400 Charles Greene <crgreene at cox.net>
writes:
> Tim,
> 
> I had a buried coax unprotected and it flooded.  Then about 15 years 
> ago I 
> installed a length of RG213 in a plastic water pipe.  It has held up 
> ever 
> since.   I also buried about 100' of Davis RF LMR-400 Direct Bury 
> coax.  It 
> has performed well for the year it has been in.  You might want to 
> check it 
> out.  It costs more, but compared with the cost of a conduit and 
> coax, it 
> might be cheaper.   On guying the vertical, I have a Hustler 6BTV 
> and use a 
> nylon cord to hold it against the NW wind.  Works well.  Yes, a 
> complete 
> set of radials is better than an simple counterpoise for a vertical 
> mounted 
> above the ground.  For a vertical mounted above the ground, say 1/4 
> wave, 
> probably 4 radials will work ok, but this is a compromise for some 
> bands.  A buried radial over 0.1 wavelength has some effect, so 1/4 
> wave 
> the radials for the higher bands also work to a degree on the lower 
> 
> bands.  It has been reported in the literature that installing over 
> 16 
> radials produces diminishing returns.  You need a minimum or 6, and 
> 
> actually, the more the better.
> 
> Hope to hear you on the air.
> 
> 73,  Chas,  W1CG
> 
> At 05:06 PM 8/29/2005, timbarrett at frontiernet.net wrote:
> >Hi All - I'm looking for some advice before I put in the effort to 
> erect
> >an antenna, any comments appreciated!
> >
> >Having emigrated from the UK (ex M0TIM) to the USA (new QTH is 
> upstate
> >NY, near Rochester) I’m hoping to get back into amateur radio and 
> put
> >up an antenna before the winter sets in.  I have a Butternut HF6V
> >antenna that I used in my small London backyard. I purchased this
> >second hand, along with the counterpoise kit which I have never 
> used. I
> >now plan to erect the antenna at the side of my one acre yard and 
> since
> >there is open land to the side of my property I can lay down 
> radials
> >without difficulty.
> >
> >For the transmission line from the shack (in the house), I plan to 
> lay
> >RG8 cable in 1.25” plastic conduit for a distance of approx 100’ 
> buried
> >1 foot below the surface (alongside a drainage pipe I am having
> >installed). Does anybody have experience of waterproofing these
> >conduits to stop ingress of water when buried - or shouldn't I 
> worry?
> >
> >The HF6V vertical will be located within a row of low trees (20’)
> >running approx North East / South West. The antenna will have a 
> clear
> >view to the east and west with some blocking from the trees in the 
> N/S
> >direction. I need to minimize the visual impact of the antenna.
> >
> >The radial system will be copper wire. Except for the line of trees 
> I
> >have clear land to lay as many radials for whatever length is
> >appropriate.
> >
> >The position is quite windy and exposed so I will probably guy the
> >antenna. I am thinking of creating a concrete foundation for the
> >antenna, but don’t want to permanently fix the supplied HF6V base 
> into
> >the concrete in case I want to move it later. I’ll probably put a 
> short
> >piece of scaffolding pole into the concrete and then fix the 
> antenna to
> >that.
> >
> >Actually, I have several mounting options:
> >
> >1.      ground mounted with radials
> >2.      mast mounted using the counterpoise kit
> >3.      mast mounted with ground radials (would this even work?)
> >
> >Is there any benefit to raising the antenna on a mast rather than 
> ground
> >level mounting? If I do, is a system of ground radials better than 
> the
> >Butternut Counterpoise system?  Is it even feasible to use a 
> ground
> >radials system if the antenna is not ground mounted, ie if the 
> feed
> >point is elevated? One fact to consider is my location, we get a 
> lot of
> >lake effect snow in the winter and it drifts to the side of my 
> property
> >so the lower 3 feet of the antenna could be below the snow if I do 
> not
> >raise the antenna above ground level.
> >
> >The advice seems to be to put down radials of 30’ long. Is there 
> any
> >benefit in putting down longer ones and how many should I use?
> >
> >For lightning protection I plan to use a lightning arrestor at the
> >antenna feed point to protect the transmission line and another 
> where
> >the TL enters the house to protect the radio equipment. Looking at
> >Polyphaser, etc these seem rather expensive ­ does anybody have an
> >alternative?
> >
> >Thanks in anticipation
> >Tim K9VB
> >
> >
> >
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