[Elecraft] Re:elevated radials

[Ron D' Eau Claire]

Thanks, Stuart!

I'll look into that Force 12. It sounds interesting. I've been following the
issue of elevated radials for years. I looked up the reference I mentioned
earlier and it was an engineering paper by Christman in 1988 that I was
thinking of. That paper was about the commercial use of large counterpoises
raised above the earth as compared to the "standard" of 120 radials on the
ground that dates back to the 1930's.

Christman subsequently wrote an article that appeared in the August, 1988
issue of QST about his work for Hams comparing systems more on the scale of
what most of us are likely to install. In that article Christman says that,
at 3.8 MHz, only four radials such as most Hams put up elevated 5 feet above
the ground are within 0.5 dB of being as effective as 120 radials on the
ground. I thought, Wow! But I've seen very little about it ever since.

When I read Moxon's "HF Antennas for all Locations" a few years ago, I
wondered if the shortened, "tuned" counterpoises that he recommends were
based on Christman's work, but I never took the time to write and ask.

I've also been told by one person that Christman's work was never verified
by experiment. That's an interesting point. I don't have any other
references to indicate whether it was or not. The writer said that Christman
used an early version of NEC that was available back then to "prove' his
theory.

As usual, what I don't know far exceeds what I do know.

It is very interesting that the commercial installation is using an elevated
radial system. You pointed out that it also avoids corrosion by the soil.
That's certainly another consideration.

Ron AC7AC