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Old June 6th 07, 02:53 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
The Shadow The Shadow is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Mar 2007
Posts: 120
Default Advice on long wire for 20, 40, 80 meters.

Thanks very much to all that replied. I have passed it along to our Canadian
friend
Lamont

"Bryan" wrote in message
...
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)