On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:35:53 -0400, merlin-7 wrote:

If I used electric fence wire for my RF ground radials, how long do you
all think it would last?

Do you think it may last a year or so?

When I was growing up on the farm, we had galvanized electric fencing
wire that had been lost in the weeds, and stomped into the ground (black
Iowa dirt) for YEARS and showed no sign of rust.

With todays copper prices, those half mile spools of 14AWG fence wire
from the FarmFleet are looking cheaper every day.

The biggest problem I can see would be getting proper electrical contact
to the radials themselves. Since steel will not take solder, and you get
all kinds of nasty galvanic reactions with dissimilar metals, I would try
brassing up the ends with a brazing torch, and then solder to the brass.

--Teh

"Tehrasha Darkon" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:35:53 -0400, merlin-7 wrote:

If I used electric fence wire for my RF ground radials, how long do you
all think it would last?

Do you think it may last a year or so?

When I was growing up on the farm, we had galvanized electric fencing
wire that had been lost in the weeds, and stomped into the ground (black
Iowa dirt) for YEARS and showed no sign of rust.

With todays copper prices, those half mile spools of 14AWG fence wire
from the FarmFleet are looking cheaper every day.

The biggest problem I can see would be getting proper electrical contact
to the radials themselves. Since steel will not take solder, and you get
all kinds of nasty galvanic reactions with dissimilar metals, I would try
brassing up the ends with a brazing torch, and then solder to the brass.

--Teh

Never had a problem soldering to steel, I ve soldered to steel chassis,
steel wire, no problem.

Jimmie

In message , Jimmie D
writes

"Tehrasha Darkon" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:35:53 -0400, merlin-7 wrote:

If I used electric fence wire for my RF ground radials, how long do you
all think it would last?

Do you think it may last a year or so?

When I was growing up on the farm, we had galvanized electric fencing
wire that had been lost in the weeds, and stomped into the ground (black
Iowa dirt) for YEARS and showed no sign of rust.

With todays copper prices, those half mile spools of 14AWG fence wire
from the FarmFleet are looking cheaper every day.

The biggest problem I can see would be getting proper electrical contact
to the radials themselves. Since steel will not take solder, and you get
all kinds of nasty galvanic reactions with dissimilar metals, I would try
brassing up the ends with a brazing torch, and then solder to the brass.

--Teh

Never had a problem soldering to steel, I ve soldered to steel chassis,
steel wire, no problem.

Jimmie


I might be wrong, but I think that you should also be able to solder to
the zinc plating of galvanized wire (after gently cleaning it).
Ian.
--

"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
...
In message , Jimmie D
writes

"Tehrasha Darkon" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:35:53 -0400, merlin-7 wrote:

If I used electric fence wire for my RF ground radials, how long do you
all think it would last?

Do you think it may last a year or so?

When I was growing up on the farm, we had galvanized electric fencing
wire that had been lost in the weeds, and stomped into the ground (black
Iowa dirt) for YEARS and showed no sign of rust.

With todays copper prices, those half mile spools of 14AWG fence wire
from the FarmFleet are looking cheaper every day.

The biggest problem I can see would be getting proper electrical contact
to the radials themselves. Since steel will not take solder, and you
get
all kinds of nasty galvanic reactions with dissimilar metals, I would
try
brassing up the ends with a brazing torch, and then solder to the brass.

--Teh

Never had a problem soldering to steel, I ve soldered to steel chassis,
steel wire, no problem.

Jimmie


I might be wrong, but I think that you should also be able to solder to
the zinc plating of galvanized wire (after gently cleaning it).
Ian.
--

I think your right.

Ive soldered electric fence wire with no problem, Isnt that galvanised?.

I clean it, coat the wire with flux, make a western union splice then
solder.

Jimmie

On Thu, 7 Jun 2007 08:47:13 +0000 (UTC), Tehrasha Darkon
wrote:

The biggest problem I can see would be getting proper electrical contact
to the radials themselves.

Clamping (wire nuts, twisting, compression joins, ...) works fine.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC