For a cheap solution for radials is to use buried galvanized barbed wire.
It is available for pennies a foot. A preferred way of putting it in is to
use a is a Ditch Witch with a vibrating plow attachment that allows the
wire to buried with limited handling. Depending on the soil consistency it
will be long-lasting. My sons with metal detectors have unearthed barbed
wire that was of a style used 50 years ago by local farmers. In Puerto Rico
AM stations have lost entire copper fields by poachers who sent it off to
Rep Dom by containers to be sent by the pound. They have used the
galvanized fence wire successfully.
Herb, KV4FZ
On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 1:13 PM JC <n4is@n4is.com> wrote:
> Hi Guys
>
> Stay away from aluminum, the aluminum oxide dielectric is a terrible
> complication around 2 MHz, it become a capacitor and a diode and will
> generate a lot of noise in presence RF currents.
>
> There is no way to avoid the diodes at the connection with different
> materials, like at the ground plate. When these electrical junctions are
> very well they will work well for few months, than the noise will start
> around Sunset when the RF field from AM BC are more intense, the RF will be
> there, even if you are far from BC station, the propagation peak is near
> Sunset.
>
> Galvanic corrosion and diode formation is inevitable. Same problem is very
> common on rotor, mast and tower contacts originating birds on 1810, 1820
> and every 10 KHz, most of this signals are originate on your own tower.
> Just grounding the with a solid contact with the tower can kill a lot of
> noise.
>
> I've seen several situation of aluminum joints becoming a strong noise
> source. The same joints are not a problem on 80 or 40m, the issue is just
> around 2 MHz
>
> Save yourself a lot of problems, aluminum an 160m antennas are not a good
> combination.
>
> 73's
> JC
> N4IS
>
>
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