Hello Folks:
Just finished putting a radial system in about a month ago, and had
excellent results with a method originally from an old QST "Technical
Correspondence" article which is really just an industrial strength
version of the "bobbi-pin suggestion" filed here a short time ago.
I used "fence staples" about one and a half inches long. These are U
shaped "nails" with 2 sharpened ends, (from here on, I'll use the terms
staples and nails interchangeably) These "nails" are used to attach
fence wire to wooden fenceposts, and are available at just about any
hardware store.
When I put in 20 radials 65 feet long, I used about 5 pounds of these
fence staples to nail the wire to the ground after cutting the grass
exceptionally short.
I put in a staple spaced about every foot on the somewhat uneven
sections of ground (every 6" or less in the really rough spots), and
about every 2 feet on the flattest of sections to hold the wire very
tight onto the surface of the earth and short grass. By using a good
heavy booted foot, and stomping on the fence staple with my heel, I
could drive a staple almost below the surface quite easily, and keep the
wire very tightly hugging the surface along it's entire length.
Initially, I started to put the staples in using a hammer, but found the
foot pressure method to be a lot faster and just as effective for the
sections on even ground.
Each radial was attached to the ground side of the antenna and laid out
in the proper direction. The end of the radial near the antenna was
held in place with two nails to really anchor it in place tightly. The
far end of the radial wire was tied securely to a staple and the tag end
cut off. I then pulled the wire tight and pounded the nail into the dirt
with a hammer so that it was about a 1/4 " below the surface at the end
furthest from the vertical radiator.
Then I worked my way out along the radial starting at the antenna
working toward the end armed with a big bag of staples, applying them
quite liberally. (after all, they were really very cheap by the pound)
After the 20 radials were laid (the whole system took me about 3 hours),
I bought some "slow release, fall application" lawn ferilizer and gave
the lawn a going over. Old-timers that I've worked on the air say this
radial system will disappear after about the second grass cutting in the
spring with your lawnmower (set the blade up about an inch and half
higher than normal for the first two or three cuttings), then as the new
grass cuttings form the usual ground cover thatch you'll find in any
lawn, the mower can be lowered to your favourite level, and nobody will
ever know there is a pile of wire out there.
So far, the system is proceeding as promised by the article and the old
fellows, and I recommend the method to anyone who (like me) has quickly
tired of the lawn edger 6" at a time method of putting in about 1500' of
wire, which became discouraging very quickly. Next spring, Ill be
putting up a 67 foot aluminum tower with base insulator, and intend to
use this method again when I lay out my 60 radial system.
I hope to work some of you soon.
73 de
Lee Smith
VE4ANC
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