Lostgallifreyan wrote in
:

Richard Clark wrote in
news
On Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:54:23 -0600, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:

Btw, how critical is the resistance of wire in a few ground radials? I
have some thin stainless steel wire that would be strong and enduring
out there but at around 1.5 ohms or more per 6 inches I can't help
thinking that's too much. I like the idea though, because clamping ends
of it very firmly between copper washers could be fast and easy for
good and reliable contact.

The stainless steel is a non-starter. Use more radials of wire-wrap
wire if you are concerned about visibility vs. thickness.
Vegetation/grass will quickly bury most wire when Spring comes (and
possibly before). Grass will be so tenacious that even mowing the
lawn will not bring it up (unless you have a thatching attachment).

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC


Ok, copper's no problem, was just wondering about stuff I had plenty of
at hand.. I wish I had a lawn. I was thinking that it would be an
ideal method. My main difficulty (apart from a large amount of heavy
logs (and most of a tree trunk) is that the best place to mount the
antenna is in a far coner of a plot so I can't lay radials all round it.
I can probably get the permission of one neighbour to run a ground wire
along the far end of his garden along a low wall, but that same wall is
a high wall on the other side, there's a drop of several feet as well as
no chance of permission to lay wires there. This is why I'll want a
ground rod, as a tree used to grow there, the rotted roots might be my
best chance of anything like a conductive network that is close to the
surface, in addition to a few ground wires. I'm a tenant, I don't own
the land, and can't do much except work round what is there.


Thinking about what I read recently, it seems that if the whip is not
vertical but slightly leaning back over the plot of land toward the houses,
it will have a better chance of using the sky waves, but what I don't know is
whether that demands ground radials to be biased (if biased at all) to favour
coverage on the side the antenna is leaning over, or the other side. My guess
is the side it's leaning over... Is this true? If so, it will help a lot to
make the best of that space.