"Paul Hinman" wrote in message
news:NFFQe.330061$5V4.212744@pd7tw3no...
I came across an interesting antenna the other day on the web. It
called for four radials for each band that one would want to use it
on.
In order to protect the lawn mower I would like to bury the radials.
If
I use insulated wires for the radials can I bury multiple radials
for
different frequencies in the same trench. I would rent a small
trencher
like they use for underground power and utility feeds, make four
trenches and drop in the radials, then cover them.

=================================
Paul,

When buried, even only shallow buried, radials become almost
non-resonant and their exact lengths, depth and thickness don't matter
very much.

What matters is the number of radials. The more radials there are the
better. However there is a law of diminishing returns and after 10 or
20 have been laid, depending on soil resistivity, not much happens.

But to bury a number of radials close to each other in a common trench
constitutes only ONE thick radial. With 4 trenches you have only 4
radials. They behave better when wires are uniformly, radially
distributed.

No need to buy a digging machine. Just lay some uniformly distributed,
shallow-buried wires, not necessarily all of the same length.

First try about 8 wires. If after trying out the system you feel
dissatisfied you can easily lay some more.
----
Reg, G4FGQ