CQ Amateur Radio – August 2019

radials without powered trenching

equipment.

I start by mowing a strip as low as I

can without tearing out the grass by the

roots (Photo C). Now I use a hook to

hold down the radial and push it in as

far as practical. Now the wire is lower

than my lawnmower the next time I am

mowing this area. Also, there is a nat-

ural turnover of the soil. Grass roots pull

up minerals from the soil, mix with a lit-

tle sunlight, and then cover the wires.

Usually, after a summer, the radial wires

are never seen again. They bury them-

selves deeper!

The hooks (Photo D) are made out of

old coat hangers or most any solid wire.

For the wire itself, I find this a good time

to get rid of those old runs of coax, tele-

phone wire, or data cables. It’s a great

way to clean up the garage and give that

wire a new purpose. So, why old coax?

If you have actually measured the loss

in some 25-year-old RG-58, you will

understand. And what were you plan-

ning to ever use that run of RG-6 you

rescued from the cable installer for?

Hmmm ... how to measure coax loss

with your SWR meter ... that just might

be my next column. Anyway, I loss-

measure all coax runs before I put them

up. Tested way too much foam RG-8. I

only have one piece of RG-8 in my sta-

tion. I have terminal lugs soldered to

each end and it grounds a rooftop

antenna.

Questions or Ideas?

Feel free to contact me with your

antenna questions or suggestions for

column topics. You folks do come up

with some doozies at times and are

always good fodder for a future col-

umn. Email your questions to

[email protected] or

snail mail to my QRZ.COM address.

For other antenna projects, visit