Good Antenna Location

Location, location, location…

Good radio antenna locations are easy to spot if you know what to look for. And it isn’t all that hard to spot a good antenna location for your survivalist camp.

1. Keep your antenna location away from power lines for safety as well as performance reasons.
2. Hilltops are good for VHF and UHF operations but HF operations could suffer from cross-talk.
3. Hillsides are okay as long as you are not firing your signal into a nearby hills. Remember that what adversely affects your transmitting will also adversely affect your reception. The old DX adage is that if you can’t hear them you can’t contact them.

Soil Conductivity

A lot of CB operators, ham radio operators and many shortwave listeners realize the importance of the soil when choosing possible antenna locations. And many do no to the detriment of their station effectiveness. Ham radio operators search for a new home to move into will invariable look at he environment of the neighborhood which includes the soil.

Here’s a good way to see what kind of soil interaction you can expect from various soil types:

Type, conductivity, quality

• Fresh water, 0.001, NA
• Salt water, 5.0, NA
• Pastoral, low hills, rich soil which is typical of what you would find from Dallas, Texas to Lincoln, Nebraska areas, 0.0303, very good
• Pastoral, low hills, rich soil typical of Ohio and Illinois, 0.01, very good
• Flat country, marshy, densely wooded, typical Louisiana near Mississippi River, 0.0075, very good
• Pastoral, medium hills and forestation, typical of Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York (exclusive of mountains and coastlines, 0.006, very good
• Pastoral, medium hills and forestation, heavy clay soil typical of central Virginia, 0.005, average
• Rocky soil, steep hills, typical of mountainous areas, 0.002, poor
• Sandy, dry, flat, coastal, 0.002, poor
• Cities, industrial areas, 0.001, very poor
• Cities, heavy industrial areas, high buildings, 0.001, extremely poor

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