Ground Radial Symmetry

[KB4MB]

Another reason to not go TOO short is that you may change your mind and put up an 80 or 160m antenna there one day, so having some longer radials will be better and you won't have to do all that work again.

I have my trapped inverted-l for 80/160 10 ft away from the house, so my radial field only goes out 180 degrees.  It still works   You always to the best that you can.

I think I read this somewhere, but in those cases the pattern slightly distorts to favor where the radial field is layed out, but not by any good amount.  I may have dreamed that, though.

[W8JI]

Another reason to not go TOO short is that you may change your mind and put up an 80 or 160m antenna there one day, so having some longer radials will be better and you won't have to do all that work again.

That is exactly what I do.

I make the radials long enough for 160. My 220 foot insulated tower has 100 radials about 150-250 feet long. While that might be a waste of copper, it improves the lightning ground and helps any antennas anywhere around that tower. It is a universal ground for all bands, and I might even be able to work 500 kHz some day.

[W4VR]

that is exactly what I do here in Maine, laid down 50 radials in the woods and made them as long as possible.  I used this system with my 160 meter inverted L and the radials are anywhere between 40 and 120 feet long.