On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 18:01:05 -0400, "Walter Maxwell"
wrote:


"Ken Bessler" wrote in message
news:Q64oe.9868$Wr.5569@fed1read04...
Does a knot in insulated 16g stranded wire pose a problem
for a dipole at HF freqs? This is a 66' FD dipole, coax fed,
operating 40-10m with a KAT2 autotuner. The knots are 1/2"
away from the feedpoint & lock the antenna to it's center
insulator.

Ken
Sorry, Ken, knots are a no-no. DC can travel through them, but RF? Uhn Uh. The
RF gets all tied up in them and doesn't know which way to go, so the power
concentrates there and pulverizes both the wire and the insulation--the knot
goes pooof! And down comes the dipole. How much did you say you paid for it?

Reminds me of my youth. One of my earliest jobs was working in an
automotive parts store. This was back when you actually had to know
cars and how to read and look things up in paper catalogs and stuff
like that.

One test some of the oldtime mechanics would do on a new parts guy
would be something like asking for a set of spark plugs for a Cummins
diesel, a radiator cap for a Corvair or a pan gasket for a Powerglide
transmission. I fess up... they got me on the last one.


Ken, the only problem with the knot is that the wire will be weak at
that point.