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Which wire to Use for Antenna
I am going to build an inverted V for 80 and 40 meters. I will be running
about 700 watts into it. What gauge wire should I use and should it be stranded or solid core for best performance and power handling? Thanks! Cal Barton WB5CYS |
It doesn't really matter much...Use whatever is thick enough
to stay up. 14 gauge is plenty. Solid is best overall, but stranded is easier to work with, and survives kinks much better. The only reason I call solid best, is I think in some cases, stranded can cause BC-RFI problems when it gets real old and starts to corrode.. May be a fluke, but my level of bc-rfi keeps going up and up every year. This mainly shows up on 160m receiving in my case...The only explanation I can come up with is the deterioration of my stranded antenna wire over time...I've heard of other cases of this also...But.....Thats a long term deal....Overall, I use whatever is handy, and 98% of the time, it happens to be stranded. ..As far as power, it really doesn't matter, except as far as resistance...You can run a KW into a magnet wire dipole with no problems. #14 is plenty big enough...I've used #12 on some antennas, and found it basically overkill... Even #14 is hard to break and it's a good bit lighter than #12. MK |
On Mon, 30 May 2005 00:23:16 -0400, wb5cys wrote:
I am going to build an inverted V for 80 and 40 meters. I will be running about 700 watts into it. What gauge wire should I use and should it be stranded or solid core for best performance and power handling? Thanks! Cal Barton WB5CYS Hi Cal, Go to Home Depot or Lowes and you can buy a 500 foot spool of # 14 for about 24 bucks. Thats what I use and it works quite well. get the stranded type it's stronger. 73 Dave kc1di -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/ |
wb5cys wrote:
I am going to build an inverted V for 80 and 40 meters. I will be running about 700 watts into it. What gauge wire should I use and should it be stranded or solid core for best performance and power handling? #14 (antenna and transmission line) handles my 500 watts just fine with SWRs ranging up to about 12:1. At 50 ohms and 700 watts, your feedpoint current is less than 4 amps. Nothing has broken since I switched to stranded copperweld. -- 73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
I am going to build an inverted V for 80 and 40 meters. I will be
running about 700 watts into it. What gauge wire should I use and should it be stranded or solid core for best performance and power handling? ================================= Use whatever wire gauge will support its own weight. For 1 Kwatt, anywhere from 18 awg to 12 awg will do fine. The RF loss in the wire is very slightly greater with the thinner gauges, but not enough to be noticeable. In terms of signal strength it is in terms of hundredths of a decibel. I prefer solid core, ordinary magnet wire. The enamel covering is a protection against attack from atmospheric polution. Wires last for years and years in the British average sort of climate. The so-called "stretch" in annealed, enamelled, copper wires is not worth the trouble of mentioning. Just give the wire a good tug during erection, you will feel it give an inch or so, and unless there's a double hurricane it will remain the same length for ever afterwards. ---- Reg, G4FGQ |
Reg Edwards wrote:
The so-called "stretch" in annealed, enamelled, copper wires is not worth the trouble of mentioning. Especially true for ladder-line users. :-) -- 73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
Years and years ago, they used to make a heavy copper plated steel ant
wire, anyone remember it? It was great, took years of abuse, snow, ice and high winds at a cabin of mine in the high sierras (11,500 ft elevation) and, like a timex watch, kept on ticking... Warmest regards, John "Cecil Moore" wrote in message ... Reg Edwards wrote: The so-called "stretch" in annealed, enamelled, copper wires is not worth the trouble of mentioning. Especially true for ladder-line users. :-) -- 73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
On Mon, 30 May 2005 10:19:30 -0700, "John Smith"
wrote: Copperweld(r), which is copper-clad steel wire (CCS), is still made and sold by companies that sell "antenna" wire, the Wireman, Davis RF, Radio Works and others... The copper wire I get at Lowe's on 500 foot rolls is probably different, but works fine. bob k5qwg Years and years ago, they used to make a heavy copper plated steel ant wire, anyone remember it? It was great, took years of abuse, snow, ice and high winds at a cabin of mine in the high sierras (11,500 ft elevation) and, like a timex watch, kept on ticking... Warmest regards, John |
"John Smith" wrote in message ... Years and years ago, they used to make a heavy copper plated steel ant wire, anyone remember it? It was great, took years of abuse, snow, ice and high winds at a cabin of mine in the high sierras (11,500 ft elevation) and, like a timex watch, kept on ticking... Years ago (like about 2 yrs) and even today (like now) Copperweld makes it. I have some 300-ohm transmission line made from copperweld conductors. Look into the belden catalog and anywhere you see the "Copperweld" trademark uses copper-coated steel. |
Hal:
Good to know they still produce a good product... I have given up the finer wire here, strung very long ants using steel fencing wire (like used in regards to chain link fence--or even large dia stainless steel wire from welders outlets in rolls--but EXPENSIVE!) run through 1/4"+ copper tubing these days--get all of at Lowe's or Home Depot... something about pumping big watts into a thin wire which just "itchs" my eccentricities... frown Copper tubing can be had for scrap prices at a large recycling/metal scrapping yard near you... sometimes a guy is even lucky enough to find the steel wire to run through it for a few cents a pound! In fact, many good aluminum/copper/stainless flats, rods, tubing, etc can be found for antenna projects... yellow pages should provide anyone with a source... Warmest regards, John "Hal Rosser" wrote in message . .. "John Smith" wrote in message ... Years and years ago, they used to make a heavy copper plated steel ant wire, anyone remember it? It was great, took years of abuse, snow, ice and high winds at a cabin of mine in the high sierras (11,500 ft elevation) and, like a timex watch, kept on ticking... Years ago (like about 2 yrs) and even today (like now) Copperweld makes it. I have some 300-ohm transmission line made from copperweld conductors. Look into the belden catalog and anywhere you see the "Copperweld" trademark uses copper-coated steel. |
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