Simplest way is to just thread the wire thru the insulator and and twist the
ends together. Since a dipole never ( well, rarely) comes out exactly right
anyway, you're gonna end up pruning/lengthening it anyhow. If you do twist
the wire back thru the insulator, yes, it will affect the length. If you
are talking about cutting the internal (radiating element) wire SHORTER than
the insulation, that doesn't make sense; the insulation is not strong enough
to hold the thing. So, just thread the wire thru the insulator and twist
the ends back onto itself. Then prune/lengthen as needed to resonate.

73

K4KWH
"Jim Leder" wrote in message
.. .
I was having a discussion with another ham about dipoles and dipole
lengths, and a rather silly question came up that neither one of us was
sure
of the answer. If a dipole is using INSULATED wire, can the electrical
length be altered by just wrapping the ends more or less around the
antenna
wire when attaching the end insulator? Or does the INSULATED wire need to
be
cut? He thinks it does shorten the dipole, I say it doesn't. Hope he is
right, it makes 'pruning' dipoles a lot easier.

Thanks

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Jim & Pat Leder
http://home.fuse.net/k8cxm
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