Hi, Randy,, Based on my experience, I would add weights to the radials that will enter the pond and extend them as far into the water as possible.
My very first 160 inverted L was supported by a tall pine on the dam of a lake. I owned the dam. I drove an 8 foot ground rod at the water's edge and attached 8 1/4 wave radials that I fanned out into the lake in a semicircle from the dam. I used my canoe to install the radials. I could see a significant drop in the driving point impedance as the submerged radials were added, eliminating a lot of the ground resistance in series with the radiation resistance of the vertical. The VSWR bandwidth also reduced as the Q increased. I should also mention that the lake had been treated with some amount of copper sulfate to suppress some of the vegetative growth. I expect that your pond will certainly have inorganic impurities in the water that will increase its conductivity and improve your ground connection. In my case,that simple inverted L was quite a good performer, and some of the things that I worked from my location in Raleigh NC were VK6, VK3, ZL, JA, 3B8, KX6, KH6, ZS and many Europeans - all with about 400W. GL! 73, Charlie, K4OT V -----Original Message----- From: Topband [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of AA8R Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 4:34 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Topband: Radials in the pond..? I'm putting out 60 1/4 wave radials for my 160m Inverted L on the ground. 4-5 of those radials will end up in my pond with anywhere from 5-10 feet to 25 feet in the pond for those 4-5 radials. The pond is to the NN/E of the Inverted L. Should I: 1) Just attach to each radial a heavy enough weigh at the end of those 4-5 radials and toss the weight into the pond? 2) Coil up those 4-5 radials and lay the coil wire at the shore line ? 3) String those radials along the shore line? Thanks for any suggestions..... Randy, AA8R _________________ Topband Reflector _________________ Topband Reflector
