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Well this question is about as stupid as they come.
GOOD NEWS: I have a Butternut vertical fully assembled and ready to be planted.
BAD NEWS: The ground is frozen from the recent cold spell we have had in NJ. The next few days the daytime temp will be in the mid to upper 40's but I doubt it will thaw enough.
Anyone have any ideas short of using blasting materials to get an approx 2' hole in the ground ?
Drill Baby Drill!
Even in the coldest weather, the ground rarely freezes below 10" - 12" deep here in the states. You may be able to search the internet and find how deep the frost line is in your area.
When I was in Blackstone, MA., I recall the required depth for water piping on the project I was working was 18". We found that the ground there, in February, was frozen only to a depth of 8".
Once you get below that frost line, digging should be a bit easier.
I have a ground mounted HF6V, and I guess you'll use the supplied mounting pipe like I did. It's pretty small in diameter, perhaps a rotary drill designed to drill masonry and concrete would do the trick. They make bits for the Hilti brand drills quite long, and quite large. Maybe check a local tool & equipment rental center?
Iron pipe and a sledgehammer. Use safety glasses and keep bystanders clear.
I had to dig a hole last year at this time. The frost line was about 10" deep, and after that the digging got easier. If you get a spade shovel with a flat top, you can use your feet to help with the digging. Carefully put your foot on top of the flat part and push with the foot as well as the shoulders. Worked for me. You'll sweat, pant and puff, but it can be done. If necessary, use a garden hoe to start. Just take your time and don't overexert yourself.
I think I'm going to take a ride to Home Depot and see what I can find to drill down at least half way. I also need to pick up a few hundred feet of solid wire for the radial system.
Tnx everyone for your suggestions, will keep you updated on progress.
It's overkill but you could go rent an auger like used to dig fence posts.
I got hold of a concrete chisel at Lowe's...sucker can be hit with a sledge and will punch big holes in rock. One of them around 2' in length ought to get you through the frozen portion and into softer earth.
best idea tbhQuote:
Originally Posted by KN8K
Go to the store and pick a 20 pound bag of charcoal, And a can of starter. Figure where your going to dig. Clean snow and ice from the area. Pour the coal about two layers thick. Soak it, Light it and let burn for about a half hour. Get a garbage can lid or a piece of steel and cover. If you do this in the morning, By the next morning you'll be digging like summer time... A very tried and true method of getting the frost out... And it only costs a few bucks for the coal, and a whole lot easyer on your back !!!
I agree...go rent a gas powered post hole auger and be done with it. Your back will thank you and you wont have to deal with that sickening "DINK" sound as your shovel tries to bread the frost layer! :wall:
couple hundred feet...for a radials?!?! uhh... you may wanna try a couple THOUSAND feet! In some research I have been doing to un-fuzzle my Zero Five vertical I have come to find out that a couple of resonant radials may work well...if the antenna is elevated and the radials are suspended in air but the losses in ground are phenomenal... I have cut, uhh...2,580' of #14 stranded (equates to 60-43' radials or 5.5 500 foot spools of wire!) and according to some templates and articles... I may be looking at unity gain or possible 1dbi of gain...maybe...if i can get enough raccoons to pee on the ground and up the conductivity constant. Instead of negative numbers with 500' of radials that I currently have (or had). Your mileage may vary or you may live on a salt marsh so dont listen too much to me. Here are some great places to start looking at radials for vertical antennas.
University of Hawai'i ham club. Good read! http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/radials.html
SteppIR pdf on radials. http://www.steppir.com/pdf/radial%20sys ... tennas.pdf
Butternut/Bencher article on radials. http://www.bencher.com/pdfs/00361ZZV.pdf
very interesting article by the late Dr. Sevic (W2FMI) http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/7107016.pdf
Another zero five owners radial experience http://k9jy.com/blog/2008/06/25/zerofiv ... tallation/
NCJ/K3LC article on max gain radials. Read this!! http://www.ncjweb.com/k3lcmaxgainradials.pdf
Will your vert work with a few radials. Of course it will. Will it bust pileups...eh...well...uhh...dunno. But, why not do all that you can to get the most you can out of an antenna. Especially a vertical! Since you got one more than likely for the low angle DX work.
Hope that helps you out a bit. Check out old entries in the bunneh blog for my bucket-o-radials!
On edit...
20 lbs of kingsford eh? I guess if you gotta dig a hole...do what you gotta do eh...and heck you can even sit around and drink beer and roast a wheenie or 3! :cheers:
Luckily the daytime temp's have been in the mid 40's and it was plenty enough to get a 5 foot mast roughly 2 feet into the ground. Removed it and the vertical slipped right into the hole. I got it down to the proper depth and packed the dirt solid so it is actually vertical and not leaning in any direction. I only put down one radial for 80 meters for now, need to pick up some wire at Home Depot so I can put down at least 4-6 radials per band. So far it appears to be working fine, Dad has been testing it out on different bands and can't wait to get the rest of the radials put down.
Yeah 20 pounds of kingsford. There is'nt a well driller or septic tank guy that don't have a ready supply. We get 3 to 6 feet of frost here..