Scott wrote:
I've always drooped my (VHF and UHF) radials at 45 degrees and they have
always worked OK.

A droop of 45 degrees brings the impedance at resonance very close to 50
ohms. EZNEC example file VHFGP.EZ has 45 degree drooping radials. At
resonance (around 142.2 MHz), the input resistance is about 51.4 ohms.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL