RHF wrote:
To Solder or Not Solder the Ends of Stranded Antenna Wire ?

I was taught many years ago that it was always
a good Idea to Solder the Ends [1/2"~1" of my
Stranded Antenna Wire to Electrically Bond
them on both Ends in case any individual strands
should break.

+ Plus on the Feed-End the Soldered Stranded Wire
made for a better Mechanical Connection to the Hardware.

* Also the claim is that the Solder& Iron/Steel/SS
'connection' was less likely to Corrode then Copper
& Iron/Steel/SS.

? Is Soldering the Wire Ends common practice ?

=Alternatively= I have been told to only Solder the
Stranded Antenna Wire at the Feed-End; and
then Tie-a-Knot in the Far-End about an Inch or
two from the End {Overhand Knot or Loop Knot}
-and-then-to- Separate-out the individual wires into
a Porcupine {half-ball} so that the Static Electricity
could bleed-off and reduce some of the the static
'noise' on the Antenna Wire.

? Does splaying the Far-End Antenna Wires really
help to Bleed-off the Static build-up on the Wire ?

thinking about the things i do . . .
and the why of it all ~ RHF
.
Use a thimble and clamps to secure the wire mechanically to an
insulator. Then solder your 9:1 balun hot primary positive lead to the
antenna wire. You'll need still air, or a 100 Watt iron.