Where should the radial wires of a ground-mounted vertical antenna system be placed?

Radial wires act as the missing half of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna, creating a path for return currents. For these ground-mounted systems, the radials should be laid flat on the ground surface or buried just a few inches deep. Burying them slightly helps protect the wires from tripping hazards, lawnmowers, and weather without degrading their electrical performance. The earth itself forms part of the antenna's near-field environment, and keeping the wires close to the surface ensures maximum coupling. Placing them high above the ground applies only to elevated ground-plane antennas, not ground-mounted ones. Running them parallel to the antenna would ruin the required perpendicular ground plane, and placing them just at the center ignores the need to spread them outward to collect return currents.