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Radial Wires
Radials: Probably
THE
most important item, for not only the Hustler
®
BTV, but
any
ground
mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna system are the radial wires. Lack of radial wires causes a
serious compromise to performance.
Will the antenna work without radial wires? In most cases, yes -
BUT
- it will work at a much lower
efficiency in both transmit and receive. Some hams who tried the 'no radial' method and later added
a good radial system were very surprised in the difference it made with enhanced transmit
efficiency and the ability to receive many more weak signals.
The importance of a good radial
system cannot be stressed enough.
Radials are easy to install and the following section outlines the easiest and most efficient way of
installing radial wires that will withstand a powered grass mower and provide your antenna with the
best possible radial system.
How To Put Radial Wires Down Without Digging
The best time to do this is early spring but it can be done other times, as well. I have even done it in
the fall and had good success.
The idea behind this is to get the grass of your lawn to grow over the radials and protect them from
the mower.
First, mow the grass pretty short in the areas where you will be laying the radials down. Notice, I
didn't say "scalp" it. Just lower the mower until the grass is about 1 inch long after cutting. Readjust
the height of the mower back to normal and put it away.
Next, connect the radials to the Radial Plate with wire terminal
ends (which you can get at DX Engineering along with the
radial wire) and stretch them out while arraying them evenly
around the antenna. Some AM broadcast engineers tell us that
the radials should be as long as you can make them up to about
1/2 wavelength. If you can only do 1/4 wave or 1/8 wave in
certain directions then do that and don’t worry about it. You
will be surprised how much better your vertical will work.
After you install 20 to 40
radials and see how much
better your antenna performs you will have an urge to put in
more of them. Don’t resist. More really is better.
Starting from the antenna end of the radials, and about every
3-4 feet, hold the wire down with a Steel or Biodegradable
Radial Wire Anchor Pin while pulling the radial out from the
antenna to keep it taut. Push it in as far as possible to get the
