Vertical antennas have some interesting features, but the radials
required for them are a nuisance to install.

Ideally, we would like approximately 1 gazillion radials for a
vertical. In reality, we often settle for less. Much less.

When installing my Butternut HF6V, I ended up laying as many radials as
my poor aching hockey damaged back could handle, then the next weekend
repeated the process. I eventually stumbled upon a method that was fast
and painless. Well-as long as everything went well...

So what are you vertical users radial trenching secrets, anyhow? I'll
relay mine after things get started.


- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

On May 14, 7:28�am, Michael Coslo wrote:
Vertical antennas have some interesting features, but the
radials
required for them are a nuisance to install.

Ideally, we would like approximately 1 gazillion radials
for a
vertical. In reality, we often settle for less. Much less.

When installing my Butternut HF6V, I ended up laying as m
any radials as
my poor aching hockey damaged back could handle, then the next weekend
repeated the process. I eventually stumbled upon a method that was fast
and painless. Well-as long as everything went well...

So what are you vertical users radial trenching secrets,
anyhow? I'll
relay mine after things get started.

For trenching, a gas-powered lawn edger does a fine job with a
dull blade. PROVIDED...you have all the buried PVC water
sprinkler lines (if you have them) located; if you don't, that
edger will slice right through PVC pipe with little effort. :-(

Note: Edger blade rotation should be tossing excess towards
the front for safety. Anyone with lots of rocks just below the
soil (as I do) can get injured if the blade tosses things backward.

What I need is a way of getting under a sidewalk AND lots of
mature roots from tall cypresses. "Trenchless" line-laying
with a pipe and pointy nozzle to hydraulically bore into soil is
one way and will cost about $400 to $500 from a plumbing
service that does that kind of thing. [estimate] Not good.
Manual digging with a shovel for one such pass-through
takes as much effort as manual hoe-trenching a couple
dozen radials.

BTW, radials themselves can be #14 solid THHN (nylon-
jacketed PVC insulation) electrical wiring according to many
who have used that. The insulation will preserve the copper
longer and reportedly has little effect on final VSWR. Best
prices for that seem to be (locally) Home Depot in 500 foot
spools.

73, Len AF6AY

On Mon, 14 May 2007 11:28:37 EDT, Michael Coslo wrote:

Vertical antennas have some interesting features, but the radials
required for them are a nuisance to install.

Ideally, we would like approximately 1 gazillion radials for a
vertical. In reality, we often settle for less. Much less.

When installing my Butternut HF6V, I ended up laying as many radials as
my poor aching hockey damaged back could handle, then the next weekend
repeated the process. I eventually stumbled upon a method that was fast
and painless. Well-as long as everything went well...

So what are you vertical users radial trenching secrets, anyhow? I'll
relay mine after things get started.


- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

For AM broadcast they are normally run in with a modified plow, with a
guide tube for the wire on the trailing edge of the blade. Not
practical on a residential lot, but if you are in the country a little
welding could probably rig up a usable plow if you have access to a
small (but bigger than lawn size) tractor. I used to like to then
silver-solder the wire to a copper bus ring around the tower base.

In any event, a non-trivial task.

Bill KB0RF

On May 14, 11:28�am, Michael Coslo wrote:
So what are you vertical users radial trenching secrets,
anyhow?

Here are a couple of methods:

The first method is to get a gardening spade with a straight (flat)
blade. Hold it with the blade vertical and push with your foot so it
makes a straight slit in the turf. Move it one blade-width and
repeat.

Push the wire into the slit with a garden weed puller (long rod with a
forked end.


The second method requires a special homemade tool. Get a linoleum
knife (the kind with a curved blade) and sharpen the outside edge.
Take a piece of ~1/4" copper tubing, bend it to a curve, and solder or
epoxy it to the side of the blade.

The radial wire is fed through the tubing. The knife is pushed into
the ground and pulled along, making a slit and burying the wire at the
same time. Requires soft soil!

--

My favorite trick is to not bury the radials at all.

At my old house on RadioTelegraph Hill, I had a nice homebrew 20 meter
vertical mounted on the garage. The bottom of the radiator (16 feet of
half-inch EMT) was 10 feet up, and very inconspicuous. The radials
went over the roof and yard, and were of fine wire so that they were
almost invisible. Homemade insulators of clear plexiglas did the job
at the far end.

Whole thing cost me maybe $10. I made thousands of QSOs with that
antenna.

73 de Jim, N2EY

wrote:

The first method is to get a gardening spade with a straight (flat)
blade. Hold it with the blade vertical and push with your foot so it
makes a straight slit in the turf. Move it one blade-width and
repeat.

Push the wire into the slit with a garden weed puller (long rod with a
forked end.


The second method requires a special homemade tool. Get a linoleum
knife (the kind with a curved blade) and sharpen the outside edge.
Take a piece of ~1/4" copper tubing, bend it to a curve, and solder or
epoxy it to the side of the blade.

The radial wire is fed through the tubing. The knife is pushed into
the ground and pulled along, making a slit and burying the wire at the
same time. Requires soft soil!

--

My favorite trick is to not bury the radials at all.


some snippage



I came up with a pretty quick method which I'll describe he


Before I go into this, the standard disclaimers apply -

I don't suggest anyone do this. It is a potentially dangerous
operation, and involves using sharp instruments that are capable of
causing serious injury or death. Don't even think of doing this. You
have been warned!


I found many of the suggested ways of laying radials either painful
from crouching over the work, too mind numbingly slow, or unsatisfactory
in general - such as laying the radials on the ground and not burying.
The XYL particularly hated the last one.

I thought to myself "There must be a method of doing this that isn't
going to take the whole day and is reasonably automated".


So I set off on a quest. First I looked for an edger. Unfortunately the
least expensive one I could find was around a hundred dollars. To make
matters worse, I wouldn't have much use for it afterwards.

So I did what any other nut would have done, I bought a small electric
chainsaw. for something like 39 dollars.

In use, I stood part way to the side of the cut, starting at the
antenna base. Then pulled the saw back with me to cut the shallow
trench. I found it worked even better if I turned the saw on. I had not
one kickback, although the occasional spark is to be expected when
hitting a rock or pebble.

Then I laid the radial wire in the trench, walked over the cut to
compact and stabilize the buried radial, then attached the radial to my
ground ring.

This was quick, allowed me to install a lot more radials before my back
hurt too much, and only scared the neighbors a little bit.

One other caveat - don't expect the chain to be very sharp after this
bit of abuse. I needed to get another chain to restore the saw to it's
proper wood cutting use.

And of course, this isn't going to work if you live in a place like New
Hampshire, where the soil tends to be made of solid granite.

Like I said before, this is only something I did. In no way is it to be
construed as a suggestion. Don't do it.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

On May 16, 2:50 pm, Michael Coslo wrote:


So I did what any other nut would have done, I bought a small electric
chainsaw. for something like 39 dollars.


It's what the pro's use, on a different scale. Friend of mine does
fiber optic provisioning, and he's bringing on of these to my station
to plant coax.

See here ----- http://www.ditchwitch.com/dwcom/Prod...ductView/10588

73, RDW

RDWeaver wrote:
On May 16, 2:50 pm, Michael Coslo wrote:

So I did what any other nut would have done, I bought a small electric
chainsaw. for something like 39 dollars.


It's what the pro's use, on a different scale. Friend of mine does
fiber optic provisioning, and he's bringing on of these to my station
to plant coax.

See here ----- http://www.ditchwitch.com/dwcom/Prod...ductView/10588

Well . . . there's a bit of difference between a ditch witch, which is
made for digging ditches and offers the operator reasonable protection
from flying debris, and using a chain saw that is designed for cutting wood.

As Michael warns several times in his article, this "is a potentially
dangerous operation, and involves using sharp instruments that are
capable of causing serious injury or death. Don't even think of doing
this. You have been warned!" I have the utmost respect for a chain saw,
even when used in its intended application of cutting wood. (And I use
one regularly.) I'd certainly be very aprehensive about using it to
part the Red Dirt. Or black dirt, depending on your part of the country.

73, Steve KB9X

On May 16, 2:50 pm, Michael Coslo wrote:


One other caveat - don't expect the chain to be very sharp after this
bit of abuse.


Yes, but when you're done planting the radials, you could use the dull
chain as an antenna and maybe win a prize.

See here --- http://www.n0ew.org/k0s/

73, RDW

One other caveat - don't expect the chain to be very sharp after this bit
of abuse. I needed to get another chain to restore the saw to it's proper
wood cutting use.

Having some experience with chainsaws-

Contacting the blade with dirt will ruin the blade (as stated above), but
don't do this with an expensive saw thinking that the blade can be changed
later. It'll also ruin the guide wheels and clutch too. In fact, it is
widely known among chainsaw operators that dirt = death to chainsaws. It
mixes with the oil and becomes a grinding compound.

Trench cutting has to be seen as an old saws dying gasp.

It is also extremely risky. If you unwittingly hit something solid, the saw
could bounce or kick back. It happens sometimes when you're cutting wood.
Its bound to happen when you are cutting into something when you don't know
what it consists of.

Having said all that, I cant decided if my advise would be- be careful, OR-
just don't do it.
--
Jack VK2CJC / MM0AXL
FISTS# 9666
Mid North Coast Amateur Radio Group
www.mncarg.org

Michael Coslo wrote:
Vertical antennas have some interesting features, but the radials
required for them are a nuisance to install.
[snip]
So what are you vertical users radial trenching secrets, anyhow?
I'll relay mine after things get started.

I like to do radials a different way: rather than cut a trench for each
radial, I scrape the topsoil, lay out the radials and concentrics, bond
them, and then cover the whole grid up again. Believe it or not, this is
actually quicker, given proper preparation - for an 80 meter vertical
with 64 radials, it can be done by four hams in one day - although it is
definitely best done when the XYL is visiting her folks. ;-)

After that, I put down lots of fertilizer and new grass seed, and blamed
the operation on grubs. Worked like a charm.

Bill W1AC
P.S. This method assumes you are really good friends with an experienced
bulldozer operator who has a job in the next block over, but not that
you actually do have a grub problem.

--
73,

Bill W1AC

(Remove "73" and change top level domain for direct replies)