All,
In early 2025 a local ham passed away. His widow asked me to dismantle his
station and sell the equipment. He lived on a suburban lot and used a
SteppIR vertical. Some years ago he described the installation which
consisted of several pieces of galvanized fencing, bonded together as his
"radial system". The system performed well based on his feedback and
monitoring his on the air performance. I was asked to remove the
antenna. When I did so I found that the galvanized fencing near the base
of the antenna had completely disintegrated. I did not find any solid
"wire" within about 18" of the antenna base. Corrosion had taken its toll
on the installation. Since I was removing the antenna I did not
investigate any further.
I'm not sharing this to discourage individuals from taking this approach,
but simply to point out one potential issue.
Some further information:
1. The antenna was located in EL29, about 5 miles from Galveston Bay
2. The soil is "gumbo clay" and remains wet much of the year.
3. I use locally sourced galvanized fencing for traditional purposes and
notice that some of it begins rusting within 18 months or so.
4. The fencing was connected to a stainless steel "radial plate" attached
to the base of the antenna.
5. The installation was < 10 years old.
Robie AJ4F
On Fri, Oct 31, 2025 at 8:54 AM jim.thom jim.thom@telus.net <
jim.thom@telus.net> wrote:
> Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2025 18:15:20 +0000 (UTC)
> From: "n1bkb@aol.com" <n1bkb@aol.com>
> To: John Webster NN1SS <nn1ssnh@gmail.com>, CrankupTiltover Towers
> <crankuptiltovertowers@groups.io>, Towertalk Reflector
> <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Raised Radial Spacing
>
>
> Hi John,
> While I have not tried the grounding system you suggested, I checked with
> the mfr of my Zero Five 43' vertical and he approved my alternate grounding
> solution.
> Five years ago my XYL wanted to replace the small back yard field of grass
> I had the semi-circle of grounding radials in (limited space & antenna
> location issues) with pavers to make an outdoor entertainment area.
> My solution was to work with the paver contractor and after he had prepared
> the area and put down the layer of sand, I bought 100' (long) x 4' tall 2"x
> 4" galvanized fencing. I then laid the fencing down in the sand to create a
> 42' x 8' "carpet" of grounding material that I attached to a 1' square ft
> metal plate I placed around the base of the vertical's mast ... and
> attached the wire carpet in 6 different places with #12 stranded wire
> soldered to the fencing (I needed a plumber's torch and steel wool to clean
> the galvanize off and solder the joints).? I then coated all the solder
> joints with Krylon clear paint to protect them from the elements.? I also
> used some of the left over fencing so there's a 4' x 8' add in one area
> (making the carpet 12' x 8' in that one spot).? Of course, the 3 pieces of
> fencing all got soldered together in MULTIPLE places to assure electrical
> conductivity throughout.
> Forgot to mention ... there are two 8' ground rods from the initial antenna
> installation adjacent to the vertical and they too are attached to that
> square grounding plate.
> My contractor then completed the job so my radial system is completely
> hidden under the pavers.? The XYL is happy because she got her
> entertainment space complete with a fire pit and my antenna seems to work
> better on 80m & 160m than when I had the 16 various length radials in the
> grass connected to that square metal plate I previously mentioned ... WIn,
> win!
> Good luck with your grounding system project.
> 73 - Steve N1BKB
>
> ## IMO, that's an ingenious solution for the 43' tall vertical. While
> K9YC might not like it, I think it's a viable solution. Above ground
> radials on postage stamp city lots is not always viable, nor digging up the
> lawn to install buried radials, nor elevated radials. He does not have a
> lot of options, especially with paver's involved.
>
> ## I have often thought the galvanized fencing material could be laid
> down, BEFORE installing a new lawn, either a new seeded lawn, or using the
> rolled up lawn. In that case, every square inch could be covered with mesh
> material.
>
> ## The only thing I would be worried about in Steve's case is the 3 phase
> HV lines next to his property line.
>
> Jim VE7RF
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|