GO BEARCATS wrote:

does the majority of the group 'advise' to use to make up some longires or
dipoles? I've had forever #12 gauge because I had/have three spools of
500ft.on each spool.

Thats fine. You'll hardly ever break that stuff...Most of my dipoles are
#12 house wire, but some are #14 house wire. I've gotten to where I
prefer #14, cuz it's lighter, and still very strong. It's cheaper too..I
had a large iced up tree branch fall on a dipole leg made from #12 a few
years ago..It didn't break the wire. It bent the top section of the mast
over instead. That will tell you how strong it is..

Got it like a year and a half ago at closeout, and I mean 'closeout' -they
should've just gave it to me.;-)

Can't beat that deal...500 ft of #12 was like maybe $34?? or so last I
looked at home depot, which has been a while...

Or would #12 AWG Gauge insulated be better for ground, so what would you use
that gauge wire for and what would you prefer for #1antenna and #2ground.

I don't use a ground to the shack, but if I did, flat copper strap is
the best. Depends on the purpose of the ground also...Flat wide copper
strap is best for lightning grounding. For wire, I'd say the thicker,
the better. You want lots of surface area. All rf flows on the surface
of the wire. "skin effect" And lightning is mainly rf. The bulk of it
about 1-2 mhz, from what I hear. Most recommend a min of #6 wire for
lightning use...What you have is fine just to simply ground a radio...
I've made antennas from nearly every kind of wire, at one time or the
other...Many portable dipoles I made just from junk scraps all tied
together...I've even made dipoles using old junky coax..Anything will
work, as long as you don't use some kind of wire that is overly
resistive as far as rf. MK
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