Easy to build

Easy to build, ground radial or ground screen for vertical antennas

by Buck Rogers K4ABT

A 24-in x 150-ft Silver Galvanized Steel Poultry Netting is priced below $35 at Lowe's and Home Depot

First we cut the 150 ft roll of chicken wire into three equal 50 ft lengths. We can now lay the 24" X 50 ft lengths on the ground with the center
cross point being the center of the 6 point or star configuration that is formed. This configuration now becomes a circle of 6 points, extending
25 feet out from the vertical HF antenna base.

Using the chicken wire mesh configuration shown here, we can use
long, seven to fourteen inch gutter nails to provide a method to hold
the mesh to the ground. Use a wire or clamp to attach the wire mesh
to the long gutter nails.

We can use as many long nails as we wish. By adding more long nails hammered into the soil, the better the ground component presented by
the ground screen, thus the better the performance of our vertical antenna.

Seven (7") inch Gutter Screws (25-Pack) less than $20 dollars at Home depot. Check these building supply centers for long nails, 7 to 14 inches.
The screw tip gutter nails provide a better ground by adding more metal surface contact to the soil.

CAUTION: be sure the long nails are well below the surface so no lawn mower accidents happen. Use more nails to capture the wire mesh,
and hammer each nail well below the soil surface. Try to keep the chicken wire mesh against the ground. Another way to install the mesh is to
break up the soil and cover the wire mesh with a layer of soil. This will greatly improve the quality of your antenna radial ground system.