ANTENTOP- 01- 2014 # 018

Buried Antennas for Emergency Communications

No surface, vertical 40 meter antenna was available to make signal comparisons but comparisons were made with a 40- meter dipole elevated about 40 feet. On local and short- skip contacts, the buried antenna was never better than 7 "S" units below the dipole with the average being 8-9 "S"units.

Conclusion

Buried antennas still offer many possibilities for experimentation. The main caution to observe is that the length, impedance and other parameters of surface antennas cannot be used.

Buried antennas are terribly inefficient as compared to almost any type of surface antenna except perhaps extremely short, unloaded whips.

But, for emergency communications installations, they do offer the possibility of having a standby antenna which is easily installed and which can be pre- tuned and immediately available for use should something happen to the installation's primary antenna.

...W1DCG

Reference

For those who would like further detailed, engineering data on buried antennas, the following compilation of articles is extremely useful: IEEE Transactions, Vol. AP-11, May.1963. Special Issue on Electromagnetic Waves in the Earth. IEEE, Box A, Lenox Hill, New York 21, New York.

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