Hey Tom,
I fear you won't get too many replies, so I'll offer my encouragement.
Although I don't use a FCP (don't know much about them), I will tell you
that all my 4 squares here
80-40-20 and 2-el on 160m* use 2 raised radials each (at only 90degrees to
one another.)
Picture, from above, a square. All my verticals are (of course) at the 4
corners of the square the correct size for the band.
All my radials are along the sides of the square. Two for each vertical 90
degrees from each other.
Here and there I have tried to separate the "overlap" of radials along each
side of the square as best I can, either from snaking them this way and that
way through the woods or in the case of my 20m 4-Square, which is the only
one NOT in the woods, I separate them by a foot or so in a straight line and
kinda make them a bit "gull winged" near the vertical themselves.
I posted a full review here several years ago, so if you wanted to know how
well they worked, I provided some data in that very long post.
80m especially seems to work quite well, even though the verticals are
nothing more than wire inverted L's hanging over trees in a bit of a sloping
gully.. I saw the 160m 4-squares (inv L style) at VE1ZZ(sk) in person many
moons ago and told myself I just HAD to have something like that.
My spacing and radials are not the best. The reality is it's the space I
had to work with. If I was rich or owned 100 acres I would do it "right",
but I don't, so I didn't - hi!
GL with them. I think you'll really enjoy your 4-squares. I like them so
much, I now have 2 more on order from DX Engineering for the 10 & 15m
bands..
Now I just pray for sunspots.
Mike VE9Antenna Antenna
*160m is currently broken. Just one inverted J left standing.
Mike, Coreen & Corey
Keswick Ridge, NB
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|