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On which depth counterpoise wires are buried?
Counterpoise Earthing The steel wire used for the purpose must be of minimum 25 meters in length. The wire is buried tangentially under the ground of minimum 1 meter depth from the ground level.
What is counterpoise wire and its use?
In electronics and radio communication, a counterpoise is a network of suspended horizontal wires or cables (or a metal screen), used as a substitute for an earth (ground) connection in a radio antenna system.
What are ground rods and counterpoise?
Counterpoise is a grounding electrode made up of buried wire, often used with transmission towers. “Continuous” counterpoise is sometimes used where the wire is buried continuously between towers.
What is a counterpoise cable?
Counterpoise, in electronics, portion of an antenna system that is composed of wires or other types of conductor arranged in a circular pattern at the base of the antenna at a certain distance above ground. Insulated from the ground, it forms the lower system of antenna conductors.
How thick should counterpoise wires be in an antenna?
As I understand using three 1/4 wavelength wires just laying on the ground in all directions with 120° between them is considered a good practice, or a starting point at least. What I don’t know is whether counterpoise can conduct a large current and thus I don’t know how thick these wires should be.
How many radials should a counterpoise wire have?
In general, more than 3 radials are desirable for a ground mounted counterpoise. You can see from the example, that as you install more radials, it is possible to also effectively reduce the gauge of the wire. It has also been empirically determined that ground mounted radials do not need to be tuned to a 1/4 wavelength to be effective.
What should the current density of a counterpoise wire be?
When you have three counterpoise radials, the maximum current in each radial is 1/3 of the antenna current or ~0.47 RMS amps in this example. And generally this current density is dominant near the base of the antenna and becomes less as you move away from the base. Before selecting a wire gauge, the construction of the wire must be considered.
What should the length of a counterpoise be?
Length of counterpoise should be a minimum of 20-30 feet but longer is better. If possible run the counterpoise above ground away from or perpendicular to the antenna