I received this request from a VE ham.

"What gauge of insulated wire do I need to build a long wire for 20, 40, 80
meters.
In your personal experience, how long must the wires be to operate on said
freqs. I am using an old ts-820 only. I need to build it quick to listen in
on the upcoming Field day this June 23-24, 2007."

Thought I would ask here for opinions

Thanks
Lamont

The Shadow wrote:
I received this request from a VE ham.

"What gauge of insulated wire do I need to build a long wire for 20, 40,
80 meters.
In your personal experience, how long must the wires be to operate on
said freqs. I am using an old ts-820 only. I need to build it quick to
listen in on the upcoming Field day this June 23-24, 2007."

Thought I would ask here for opinions

Thanks
Lamont
Hi Lamont,
the definition of a true long wire is a minimum of 1 wavelength at the
lowest operating frequency. that would be about 256 feet for 80 Meters.
Though a shorter length will work many hams use a random wire that is
cut for a 1/2 wave on 80m about 136 feet or so and use it for 80 thru 10
Meters. however that antenna is not a true longwire until you get up to
40 Meters and above. Long wire are usually end fed with Open wire
feeders and a balanced matching system. they can be very good antennas
if mounted horizontal as high as possible above ground.
Hope this is of help
73 Dave Kc1di
P.S. A search of the internet will give you much info on Longwire
antennas some good some not so good.

"kc1di" wrote in message
...
The Shadow wrote:
I received this request from a VE ham.

"What gauge of insulated wire do I need to build a long wire for 20, 40,
80 meters.
In your personal experience, how long must the wires be to operate on
said freqs. I am using an old ts-820 only. I need to build it quick to
listen in on the upcoming Field day this June 23-24, 2007."

Thought I would ask here for opinions

Thanks
Lamont
Hi Lamont,
the definition of a true long wire is a minimum of 1 wavelength at the
lowest operating frequency. that would be about 256 feet for 80 Meters.
Though a shorter length will work many hams use a random wire that is cut
for a 1/2 wave on 80m about 136 feet or so and use it for 80 thru 10
Meters. however that antenna is not a true longwire until you get up to
40 Meters and above. Long wire are usually end fed with Open wire
feeders and a balanced matching system. they can be very good antennas if
mounted horizontal as high as possible above ground.
Hope this is of help
73 Dave Kc1di
P.S. A search of the internet will give you much info on Longwire
antennas some good some not so good.

Thanks very much I shall pass it along
Any advice as to wire guage? I have used lamp cord in the past.

Lamont

In article ,
"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.

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)

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/

The Shadow wrote:

...
"What gauge of insulated wire do I need to build a long wire for 20, 40,
80 meters.

In the past, I was able to purchase large coils of aluminum wire; I
think it was used for either clothes line (and had a plastic covering on
it), or the aluminum fencing wire.

I don't remember the gauge, or if they even gave the gauge, but it
seemed to be #8 or #10.

It was cheap and light, worked well with the proper soldering
techniques. Or, properly protected clamp connectors.

Since, I have looked for this wire and not been able to find it in lowes
or home depot, orchard supply, etc.

Anyone know a source?

JS

John Smith I wrote:
The Shadow wrote:

...
"What gauge of insulated wire do I need to build a long wire for 20,
40, 80 meters.

In the past, I was able to purchase large coils of aluminum wire; I
think it was used for either clothes line (and had a plastic covering on
it), or the aluminum fencing wire.

I don't remember the gauge, or if they even gave the gauge, but it
seemed to be #8 or #10.

It was cheap and light, worked well with the proper soldering
techniques. Or, properly protected clamp connectors.

Since, I have looked for this wire and not been able to find it in lowes
or home depot, orchard supply, etc.

Anyone know a source?

JS

Many years ago I bought aluminum Electric Fence Wire at Sears. Since
they were acquired by K-Mart, I'd suggest looking at a Farm Supply or
Coop for it. It was a bit brittle, and I was burying it for my ground
planes.

Jerry, W9NPI

On Tue, 5 Jun 2007 14:12:46 -0700, "The Shadow"
wrote:

I received this request from a VE ham.

"What gauge of insulated wire do I need to build a long wire for 20, 40, 80
meters.
In your personal experience, how long must the wires be to operate on said
freqs. I am using an old ts-820 only. I need to build it quick to listen in
on the upcoming Field day this June 23-24, 2007."

Thought I would ask here for opinions

Thanks
Lamont
I like to back into this kind of question...
If you have to buy wire I would buy #14 electrical house wire from
your local Home improvement store. It has enough strength to support
itself and is very durable. You can break it if you put too much
tension on it. It seems to be reusable forever! The current price for
a 500 foot spool is up to about $42.

At $0.10 per foot an 80 meter dipole (135 feet) would amount to
$13.50.

If this is a receive only antenna the mechanical qualities are the
most important.

In my experience, 1/4 wave dipole is the most useful quick & dirty on
each band.

Current band conditions may lead to a poor experience for folks
experiencing HF for the first time.

John Ferrell W8CCW
"Life is easier if you learn to
plow around the stumps"

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)