Hey there, Part 15ers-
I stopped by looking to get an opinion on copper mesh like this:
(Hoping the picture is visible...)
My thought was to tack it down on the lawn in the early spring, and then let the grass grow up through it. I know it would be best buried, but the current situation doesn't allow for that. I'm sure eventually it will disintigrate, but I thought it might be useful for experimenting with radials during the summer and beyond.
Being copper, I thought it might be easier to solder it up and work with.
It is pricey though, with spools at .50¢ a foot (saw a 40ft spool for $20), from online sources and it costs considerably more at Home Depot.
Would it be a waste of dough? Perhaps the gain wouldnt be worth the effort or expense? Do you think it will it last for at least a summer or two? Has anyone here ever used it?
Thanks guys, in advance, for the help!
The picture is easy to figure out. There is a roll of copper mesh with the outer end twisted and flattend on the ground.
If you fasten it to the ground and avoid tearing it up by walking or mowing grass, eventually it should be held down by thousands of clingy grass roots and you can watch the years go by to see how long it lasts.
I think it will provide a perfect ground-radial substitute.
Won't disintigrate...copper doesn't corrode like iron or steel....just tarnishes.
Mark
I used chicken fencing. It lasts a couple of years. Long enough to experiment.. (And just disappears over time if ya don't wanna mess with it anymore)
Used coat hangers and made hold down pins. (Cut a section ~1' long, made a hook at one end, drove it in the ground to hold the chicken fencing down) By the end of the summer, it was gone. Grass grew right through it..
It's galvanized and easy to solder to. Inexpensive and lays down nice if ya unroll it correctly. Works as well as copper for a fraction of the cost to cover a lot more area.. (Some is over 4' wide!)
I took a 50' roll of the 4' stuff, cut it in half and made an "X" below my planned staging area. Soldered the fence together in several places where they crossed. Mounted my xmtr in the center of the "X", grounded my xmtr to it and WALA! If you see an advantage, THEN buy the high dollar stuff..
In my situation, it helped tuning. Made it easier to find peaks/dips. One can only figure if tuning is better, range will increase..
Ground rods only supply static release into the earth. Ya need some metal under there for the antenna to work with..
Just my thoughts..
Hi Guys: Looks like some neat stuff.
Questions.
1) How thick is that material ?
You always could double to triple the thickness to last longer.
You know copper can eventually corroded and disappear and it depends on it's enviroment.
In my personal opinion.
Copper be the best way to go, All the antennas and grounds i have done over the years the copper was the best especially if you want to sqeeze every juice and range out of your transmitter.
You alway could go to junk yard, Dumps. building development to see if you can get scraps.
Another idea You could use scrap copper pipe piece it together then flatten with hammer and stick in ground.
You also could use the mesh as your antenna as well beside as a ground and should also help your bandwidth out as well.
Could wrap the mesh around a pvc pipe for your antenna.
Hope this helps
Station 8