June 6th 07, 05:12 AM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 199
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Advice on long wire for 20, 40, 80 meters.
Bryan wrote:
You wrote:
The Shadow wrote:
Thanks very much I shall pass it along
Any advice as to wire guage? I have used lamp cord in the past.
Lamont
for simple, quick and dirty End Feed Wire antenna's, head down to
your local Electrical Supply House and get a 500" Spool of #14
or #16 Stranded Wire for $5.00US, and have yourself a good time
stringing it up in the trees.
In a pinch, that'll work. However... the longer the wire, the more mass &
weight. The softer and/or smaller the wire and the longer the
length/weight, the more stretch. For the best long-term installation,
either hard-drawn copper or copper-covered steel is a much better choice.
I
learned that lesson with my first 40m half-wavelength dipole. I used #14
soft-drawn copper... it gradually tuned itself lower in frequency, and
then
broke! Many people like to buy wire antenna stuff from The Wireman
(http://www.wireman.com/). I found the product line and pricing to be
better at Davis RF (http://www.davisrf.com/).
73,
Bryan WA7PRC
PS: CU during FD as W7MRG (2A WWA)
Oops... the URL for The Wireman would be http://thewireman.com/
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