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Old July 17th 12, 09:10 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Rob[_8_] Rob[_8_] is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Dec 2008
Posts: 375
Default UK earthling - was: Dipole-2 different wire sizes?

J. C. Mc Laughlin wrote:
Dear Rob: That is amazing. Very forward thinking. However, it seems to
use a lot of copper, some of which is latent waiting to be used. On the
other hand, the cost of running the 3 phase cable underground probably is
much more than the cost of the cable.


I would not be surprised if this system would be abandoned.
The operating companies of the electric grid have been changed from
state-owned into private companies, and we are already seeing the
deterioration resulting from such changes. This combined with the
high copper prices of today could surely mean that new connections
will be made single-phase.

In the North American scheme, most HV and LV cables are "in the air." This
tends to minimize the cost of running the cable and, too often, advantage is
taken of air-cooling to use what I believe to be wire that is too small.


We consider such systems ugly and unsafe. Even HV cables are sometimes
run underground, although this costs a lot of money. It is mainly done
in cases where residential areas have expanded to places where HV overhead
cables already existed.

Each of the disclosed systems has advantages and costs. It is fascinating
to see how different systems value the costs.


I think an important difference is "who is the decisionmaker".
Commercial companies tend to look only at costs, state-owned companies
tend to look more at environmental issues.

Thank you for expanding my knowledge. One wonders if you are a radio
amateur. 73, Mac N8TT


Yes I am, but I am not very active and only on VHF/UHF.