Does a knot in insulated 16g stranded wire pose a problem
for a dipole at HF freqs? This is a 66' FD dipole, coax fed,
operating 40-10m with a KAT2 autotuner. The knots are 1/2"
away from the feedpoint & lock the antenna to it's center
insulator.

Ken

--
Just my 2¢ worth... 73's es gd dx de Ken KGØWX
Grid EM17ip, Flying Pigs #-1055, Digital On Six #350,
Proud builder & owner of Elecraft K2 #4913

"Ken Bessler" wrote in message
news:Q64oe.9868$Wr.5569@fed1read04...
Does a knot in insulated 16g stranded wire pose a problem
for a dipole at HF freqs? This is a 66' FD dipole, coax fed,
operating 40-10m with a KAT2 autotuner. The knots are 1/2"
away from the feedpoint & lock the antenna to it's center
insulator.

Ken
Sorry, Ken, knots are a no-no. DC can travel through them, but RF? Uhn Uh. The
RF gets all tied up in them and doesn't know which way to go, so the power
concentrates there and pulverizes both the wire and the insulation--the knot
goes pooof! And down comes the dipole. How much did you say you paid for it?

Walt, W2DU

Walter Maxwell wrote:
Sorry, Ken, knots are a no-no. DC can travel through them, but RF? Uhn Uh. The
RF gets all tied up in them and doesn't know which way to go, so the power
concentrates there and pulverizes b


oth the wire and the insulation--the knot
goes pooof! And down comes the dipole. How much did you say you paid for it?

At one place I worked in CA, we put a knot in the AC line of
our soldering irons and hung them on cup hooks on the wall when
not in use.

I was using one at a bench when a secretary asked me what the
knot was for. I told her that's how we regulate the temperature
of the iron - the tighter the knot, the fewer the electrons
getting to the heating element. Physics was not her long suit.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

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The question was not the soldering iron...how did you regulate the
temperature of the secretary?

Jim


I was using one at a bench when a secretary asked me what the
knot was for. I told her that's how we regulate the temperature
of the iron - the tighter the knot, the fewer the electrons
getting to the heating element. Physics was not her long suit.

On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 17:48:42 -0500, Cecil Moore
wrote:

Walter Maxwell wrote:
Sorry, Ken, knots are a no-no. DC can travel through them, but RF? Uhn Uh. The
RF gets all tied up in them and doesn't know which way to go, so the power
concentrates there and pulverizes both the wire and the insulation--the knot
goes pooof! And down comes the dipole. How much did you say you paid for it?

At one place I worked in CA, we put a knot in the AC line of
our soldering irons and hung them on cup hooks on the wall when
not in use.

I was using one at a bench when a secretary asked me what the
knot was for. I told her that's how we regulate the temperature
of the iron - the tighter the knot, the fewer the electrons
getting to the heating element. Physics was not her long suit.

Did she look OK in a short suit? :-)

wrote:
Did she look OK in a short suit? :-)

This was back in the 1970's free love days in Silicon
Valley. She wore mini-skirts and no panties. Every day
when she left work, the R&D engineers would gather round
the window and pray for the wind to blow.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

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http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

"Walter Maxwell" wrote in message
news

Sorry, Ken, knots are a no-no. DC can travel through them, but RF? Uhn Uh.
The RF gets all tied up in them and doesn't know which way to go, so the
power concentrates there and pulverizes both the wire and the
insulation--the knot goes pooof! And down comes the dipole. How much did
you say you paid for it?

Walt, W2DU

I didn't pay much for it. I had the coax & connector plus
the center insulator. The wire was $3.30.

FYI I'll only be putting 5-15 watts SSB/CW through the
antenna on FD.

--
Just my 2¢ worth... 73's es gd dx de Ken KGØWX
Grid EM17ip, Flying Pigs #-1055, Digital On Six #350,
Proud builder & owner of Elecraft K2 #4913

"Ken Bessler" wrote in message
news:UV5oe.9951$Wr.2335@fed1read04...

"Walter Maxwell" wrote in message
news

Sorry, Ken, knots are a no-no. DC can travel through them, but RF? Uhn Uh.
The RF gets all tied up in them and doesn't know which way to go, so the
power concentrates there and pulverizes both the wire and the insulation--the
knot goes pooof! And down comes the dipole. How much did you say you paid for
it?

Walt, W2DU

I didn't pay much for it. I had the coax & connector plus
the center insulator. The wire was $3.30.

FYI I'll only be putting 5-15 watts SSB/CW through the
antenna on FD.

Ok, Ken, just make sure you put in at least a 20-watt knot, so you'll have a
little margin to spare.

Walt

No, no, no. If you put in a 20 knot watt, you can't run fast enough to
catch up to it.

Jim


Ok, Ken, just make sure you put in at least a 20-watt knot, so you'll have
a little margin to spare.

Walt

On Fri, 3 Jun 2005 18:01:05 -0400, "Walter Maxwell"
wrote:


"Ken Bessler" wrote in message
news:Q64oe.9868$Wr.5569@fed1read04...
Does a knot in insulated 16g stranded wire pose a problem
for a dipole at HF freqs? This is a 66' FD dipole, coax fed,
operating 40-10m with a KAT2 autotuner. The knots are 1/2"
away from the feedpoint & lock the antenna to it's center
insulator.

Ken
Sorry, Ken, knots are a no-no. DC can travel through them, but RF? Uhn Uh. The
RF gets all tied up in them and doesn't know which way to go, so the power
concentrates there and pulverizes both the wire and the insulation--the knot
goes pooof! And down comes the dipole. How much did you say you paid for it?

Reminds me of my youth. One of my earliest jobs was working in an
automotive parts store. This was back when you actually had to know
cars and how to read and look things up in paper catalogs and stuff
like that.

One test some of the oldtime mechanics would do on a new parts guy
would be something like asking for a set of spark plugs for a Cummins
diesel, a radiator cap for a Corvair or a pan gasket for a Powerglide
transmission. I fess up... they got me on the last one.


Ken, the only problem with the knot is that the wire will be weak at
that point.