Ground plane question

Hi all.
basic question on the above. Does the shape of the radials have any effect,, What I mean is ( and im just pulling numbers out of the air) If I have G/P radials that are 6ft long and angled down at 45degs it would work, but what happens if I angle the low 1/2 of the radial back in at 45degs would it affect how the G/P is working,,, Does it work on electrical length or physical length/ area. Reason I ask is id like to play around with G/Ps but im limited for space,, I can go up but not out, lol one of the blessing of no mans land.

Cheers Tom

They work on electrical length so one made with insulated wire would appear approximately 4-5% longer to RF than one made of bare wire.

Anything you do which alters the angle can affect the feed point impedance. It'll still work OK, it'll just alter the tuning and there may be some effect on the radiation pattern of the antenna but there's not a lot you can do about that so just put up what you can. Bringing them out at 45 degrees as long as you can and then just letting the remainder hang vertically is an option too.

Cheers N/C.
Given me something to think about,