S9v31 and homebrew radial plate

Well I finished my install of my S9 31 foot vertical last weekend and have been doing some testing on it boy is this a nice antenna. Being a new ham I dont have a anything but my other antennas to compare it to but I like it. The radial plate is made from 4 ground bus bars purchased at Home Depot for about $5 each then I used some large copper hog rings to lash them together into a square. Nothing fancy but it works.  I did start off my install with 8 - 26' 9" radials and to say the least I was really disappointed in the antennas performance. My 58' long wire was hearing better than this new vertical so it was off to Home Depot to get more wire. I laid down another 8 radials and this thing came to life and big .... It is the best antenna I have used yet.  If you have any questions let me know and I will try to answer them.  Pictures of the install below

Looking up the S9v31

My Radial Plate

Wider shot of the radials