Steve, oh, I know you to be a first class gentleman of the highest order. I
certainly do not believe all of those terrible things they are saying about
you on 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meters. Nobody could possibly be all that
bad!! <Smile>

Ron, K8HSY  


-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 11:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Questions about Setting Up Radials

No problem Ron, and I hope you know I wasn't trying to be snotty or
anything.

Hope to hear you on the 40 meter roundtable some Saturday.

73, Steve KW3A

On 7/2/2014 12:02 PM, Dr. Ronald E. Milliman wrote:
> No, Steve, that was not a typo on my part when I used 16' 3" as a 
> quarter wave on 40 meters; that was simply a mistake on my part, and 
> you are absolutely correct. The more correct number is closer to 32' 
> 6" which is a quarter wave for the center of the 40 meter band. I 
> simply divided a one-half by 4 instead of 2. Of course, I know better. 
> That is what I get for multi-tasking! Give me a break, that is the 
> first mistake I've made this year, which means I'm slipping a bit 
> because last year I didn't make any mistakes at all! <lol> Thanks for 
> keeping me on my toes! <Smile>
>
> Ron, K8HSY
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Steve Forst
> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 10:40 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Questions about Setting Up Radials
>
> Don't want to be nit picky over an obvious typo, but  there are some 
> new hams trying to get their heads around all this stuff.
>
> 16 feet would be a quarter wave on 20 meters and for 40 meters would 
> be in the 33 foot range.
>
> For whatever it's worth, Butternut and maybe some of the other 
> vertical builders recommend  going a bit longer than quarter wave.  
> 240 / freq in mhz instead of the usual 234 / f in mhz.
>
>
> I guess the bottom line is we all just put up what we can, where we 
> can, and how we can, then work the world.
>
> 73, Steve KW3A
>
>
>
>
>
> On 7/2/2014 11:24 AM, Dr. Ronald E. Milliman wrote:
>> Colleagues,
>>
>> With respect to a radial system used with a vertical,
>>
>> 1.	The length of the radials, ideally, should be a quarter wave length
>> for the lowest band for which the vertical is designed; for example, 
>> if the vertical is designed for 40 to 10 meters, the radials, 
>> ideally, should be around 16' 3" which is one-quarter wave length for 
>> 40 meters
>>
>> 2.	The more radials, the better
>>
>> 3.	Ideally, the radials should be placed symmetrically around the base
>> of the vertical
>>
>> 4.	Insolated wires are less likely to disintegrate as quickly as
>> uninsulated wires
>>
>> 5.	At least one ground rod should be driven into the ground at the base
>> of the vertical to which the ground side of the vertical and all 
>> radials should be attached
>>
>> 6.	In general, larger gage wire is better than smaller gage wire, but
>> even wire as small as 20 gage will work just fine
>>
>> 7.	The above are best case scenarios; shorter radials are better than
>> no radials, as few as four radials is better than no radials; 
>> non-symmetrical patterned radials is better than no radials, and 
>> uninsolated wire radials is better than no radials at all
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: For blind ham radio operators
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>> On Behalf Of Lloyd Rasmussen
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 7:44 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Questions about Setting Up Radials
>>
>> The more radials the better.  Heavier-gauge wire could be better.
>> Stranded, insulated, should make little difference.  How are you 
>> going to mow the lawn if the wire is just on the ground?  I have 
>> heard that if there is good grass growing, the wires will tend to get 
>> buried in organic matter, which prevents further damage by lawn mowers.
>> If the antenna is bracketed to the house (I think you said a couple 
>> feet outside), this antenna is going to be rather compromised, anyway.
>> It is really impossible to predict the results you will get, good or 
>> bad.  The radials will probably make the biggest difference on the 
>> low bands.  I hope you will have the tuner out near the antenna base 
>> and not
> back in the shack.
>>
>> Prepare to do a lot of expeerimentation.
>> 73,
>>
>> Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU/4, Orlando, FL (at the NFB convention) 
>> http://lras.home.sprynet.com -----Original Message-----
>> From: Richard B McDonald
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 8:12 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Questions about Setting Up Radials
>>
>> Hi!
>>
>>
>>
>> Soon, I will install a 43' HF (160M - 6M) antenna.  I have a few 
>> questions about setting up the radials for this antenna, as follows:
>>
>>
>>
>> 1.  The manual for the antenna recommends using 18 gauge wire.  Would 
>> using a larger gauge wire (e.g., 16 gauge( be better?  Since my 
>> radial system will not be ideal (see below), I wonder if increasing 
>> the gauge of the wire might be helpful.
>>
>>
>>
>> 2.  Does it matter if the wire is solid copper or braided copper?  Is 
>> one better than the other?  Also, should the wire be a) insulated or
>> b) uninsulated?  Does it matter, or is one better than the other?
>>
>>
>>
>> 3.  These radials will not be buried in small trenches in the ground.
>> Instead, the end of each radial will be "staked" into the ground, and 
>> also likely a few "stakes" along each radial's length.  So, regarding 
>> the "stakes", is it OK that they are metal?  Is it better if these 
>> stakes are insulated, similar to the wire?  Would plastic or wood 
>> stakes be any or much better?
>>
>>
>>
>> I think I will be able to layout about 16 radials.  However, not each 
>> will be the height of the antenna (maybe half of them will be), their 
>> layout will not be symmetrical (like spokes on a wheel) and about 180 
>> degrees radius off of the antenna will not have radials extending 
>> outward
> in this quadrant.
>>
>>
>>
>> Finally, are there any tricks I can employ to improve my radial 
>> system?  For example, I think I once heard of someone laying down 
>> chicken wire around the antenna base.  Is something like that beneficial?
>>
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Richard KK6MRH
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>