Question on antennae
 

Wire antennae in particular.. Is there a preferred material? Copper,
steel, stainless, etc?

If copper is better, for whatever reason, is it best for it to be bare
or would I benefit from an electrical wire with either plastic or
varnish insulation?

Guage.. am I better off with a with a 10 gauge wire than, say, a 22
gauge? If thicker is better then where is the limit of gain?

John

Hello John:

Copper wire is the best, and its the cheapest. I like to use the
enameled wire. As a kid I would unwind motors and such to get the wire.
But it can be bought inexpensively.

What type antenna are you planning to build?

Jay in the Great Mojave Desert, ....just down the road ah ways from the
fillin station.

Miss Dinah, down at the fillin station has gas that is pretty well
pricey, but then the next stop is a pretty long way down the road. She
has great prices on ammo, fishing and hunting stuff, swamp coolers that
no one can beat the prices. When I get gas, and a sandwich, I put a few
sticks of gum in my mouth, and act likes it chewin tabbaco, then
purposely slur my words when orderin gas, she hates that! hehehehhee

JohnM wrote:

Wire antennae in particular.. Is there a preferred material? Copper,
steel, stainless, etc?

If copper is better, for whatever reason, is it best for it to be bare
or would I benefit from an electrical wire with either plastic or
varnish insulation?

Guage.. am I better off with a with a 10 gauge wire than, say, a 22
gauge? If thicker is better then where is the limit of gain?

John

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 09:11:20 -0400, JohnM wrote in
:

Wire antennae in particular.. Is there a preferred material? Copper,
steel, stainless, etc?

If copper is better, for whatever reason, is it best for it to be bare
or would I benefit from an electrical wire with either plastic or
varnish insulation?


Copper and aluminum are nearly identical in their RF properties, and
you wouldn't notice any difference between them.

Bare copper tends to corrode more easily than aluminum, so if you use
copper outside make sure it's insulated. Enameled copper is best. You
can insulate any exposed copper with spray enamel or by dipping it in
melted wax.


Guage.. am I better off with a with a 10 gauge wire than, say, a 22
gauge? If thicker is better then where is the limit of gain?


The wire is too thin when it won't support its own weight, the
weather, or the wildlife -- 22 AWG might be about the smallest
practical size for a 9' leg. Actually, I wouldn't even bother using
anything that small -- you can get lots of good enameled copper by
scrapping an old motor from a furnace, washer, dryer, etc. Aluminum
fence wire can be had pretty cheap at your local hardware mall. If you
want some really big wire, bundle up some smaller wire and twist.






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if its a very long antenna such as a SWL or a 80 meter ham antenna then
copper coated steel works good and will not stretch with the weight...

--
K5DRC Since 1969
BULL SHOALES LAKE
http://www.bullshoals.org/lake.htm
AR/MO STATE LINE

Some day someone will give a WAR and nobody will go
"JohnM" wrote in message
...
Wire antennae in particular.. Is there a preferred material? Copper,
steel, stainless, etc?

If copper is better, for whatever reason, is it best for it to be bare or
would I benefit from an electrical wire with either plastic or varnish
insulation?

Guage.. am I better off with a with a 10 gauge wire than, say, a 22 gauge?
If thicker is better then where is the limit of gain?

John

When making a quad for 11 meter work, I used 12gauge house wire. I
went and bought xx number of feet and stripped the insulation from it.
ONe does need to paint it to keep it from oxidizing though.

Cliff wrote:
When making a quad for 11 meter work, I used 12gauge house wire. I
went and bought xx number of feet and stripped the insulation from it.
ONe does need to paint it to keep it from oxidizing though.


Thanks all for the good stuff so far, my mistake in not specifying an
antenna for a CB if that makes any difference.

Cliff, if you've got a good electrical supply near you, you can buy bare
copper by the foot.. If you get lucky they'll have magnet wire, all
varnished and ready.

John

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 09:12:36 -0400, JohnM wrote:

+Cliff wrote:
+ When making a quad for 11 meter work, I used 12gauge house wire. I
+ went and bought xx number of feet and stripped the insulation from it.
+ ONe does need to paint it to keep it from oxidizing though.
+
+
+Thanks all for the good stuff so far, my mistake in not specifying an
+antenna for a CB if that makes any difference.
+
+Cliff, if you've got a good electrical supply near you, you can buy bare
+copper by the foot.. If you get lucky they'll have magnet wire, all
+varnished and ready.
+
+John
******

John

Soft drawn copper wire as used for house wiring will have a tendency
to stretch. Antenna made with copper should be done with hard drawn
copper wire or a good quality copper cladded steel. These wires will
have less tendency to stretch over time.

Also if using cladded steel, you will need to protect the copper from
oxidizing. Once salt and moisture pit the copper cladding and get to
the steel, then you will have rust and potential degradation of the
antenna performance.

james