Owen,

Wire is laying on the ground, insulated, as it doesn't make any difference
and lasts longer. 66' is 1/4 wave at 80m which is always a safe starting
point. I probably could shorten them and do more. I intend to put in at
least 8 more for a total of 16.

I found out why the input Z was going up as I put more radials in...I was
measuring at the end of 55' of LMR-400 (as opposed to the measurements I
took when I was outside originally tuning the antenna.), and that was acting
as a 1/4 wave transformer.

I just went outside and connected through an 18 inch jumper to the MFJ-269
and got the following measurements:

2:1 VSWR Low freq Point: 3460 khz
2:1 VSWR Hi freq Point: 3801 khz
2:1 VSWR Bandwidth: 341 khz
Fo (Resonant freq) = 3560 khz, 40 ohms resistive, 0 ohms reactance

3500 32,9 1.6
3550 38,0 1.0
3600 44,9 1.2
3650 52,19 1.4
3700 57,30 1.6
3750 63,35 1.8
3800 69,39 2.0

Above table: freq, R,+/- j, VSWR, all taken from the MFJ-269

If the radiation resistance is 26 ohms and I measure 38 ohms feed impedance
at resonance, then apparently I have 12 ohms of ground loss, for an
efficiency of:

26/(26+12) or 26/38 = 68%

At least, that's where I'm at for the moment. Time for another 8 radials.

That 1/4 wave transformer (55' of LMR-400 between feedpoint and shack) that
Tom, W8JI, pointed out, makes a big difference in my confusion...at least it
all makes sense now.

73,

....hasan, N0AN
"Owen Duffy" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 3 Sep 2005 09:27:52 -0500, "hasan schiers"
wrote:

Question: Where was I taking my measurements.

I started out at the actual feedpoint...then put in about 55' of LMR-400,
and started a new set of measurements in the shack. Here is the latest
data:


Radials 2:1 Fo 2:1 BW Z VSWR @ Fo

Hassan,

Where are the radials (above ground, buried, how far)?

I think you told us that they radial wire is insulated, is that
correct?

Why did you choose 66' long radials?

Owen
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