[Elecraft] On ground - in ground radials

[Ed Cole]

I used three radials (70-foot long) made of 2-foot wide chicken wire 
(think its galvanized steel) on my 600m inverted-L.  Fourth radial was 
the shield of my 1-5/8 inch diameter Heliax line that ran 120-feet from 
the supporting tower to the shack in our house.

I ran a circle of bare No. 12 copper thhn around the base of the tower 
to connect the chicken wire radials (soldered).  That was also attached 
to a 10-foot copper ground rod as was the Heliax shield.

Inverted-L was 43 foot high by 122-foot long and base loaded with a 
large coil made of No. 12 thhn (10-inch diam by 11-inch long windings 
spaced 1/4-inch).  Base coil was grounded.

I measured Z=20 + j0 using a modified MFJ-269 inserted on the ground end 
of the coil.  Radiation resistance calculated by EZNEC = 0.8 ohm with 
about 4% efficiency.  I run 100w on 600m so ERP was about 4w.

I've previously written about the new antenna:
http://www.kl7uw.com/630m.htm

I will use Bob's staple method on radials for my new "T" antenna.

73, Ed - KL7UW

I had to roll up the chicken wire to mow.  Used concrete blocks to hold 
it down in several spots.

Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2022 09:22:33 -0700
From: Mike Fatchett <w0mu at w0mu.com>
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] On ground - in ground radials
Message-ID: <7ecd295a-25fd-51ad-af9c-86f03484904c at w0mu.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed

A well known 9 lander lid uses chicken wire for his 160 antenna and it
works very very well.? I am not sure what effect crossing the wires
has.? Has anyone done any real testing of this or is it just theory or a
wives tale?? Did he stumble upon the holy grail of radials?

Most of the results of the radial field are from the first 50 percent or
so.? You do not necessarily have to have 66 ft radials on 80m to work
and get out.? Put out as many as you can as long as you can and shorter
radials are fine too.

W0MU