On Jan 3, 4:32*pm, dave wrote:
On 01/04/2011 11:21 PM, bpnjensen wrote:



If you want to get technical about it, RF doesn't like braided round
conductors as much as it likes smooth conductors with lots of surface. I
use #12 solid copper wire with green plastic insulation for my verticals.- Hide quoted text -

-

Really? *I had not heard that before, but rather the opposite. *If
that's the case, why does anybody use a braided wire?

Little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The RF only travels on the
outside so as the strands weave toward the middle the RF has to find
other outside strands, and over and over again. This causes more loss.

How much loss are we talking about? It cannot be much...at least not
so's you'd notice.

I have plenty of sensitivity - my biggest problem by far is RFI from
nearby sources, and it dwarfs any loss issues. Ideally, I would
either put the antennae at an illegally high elevation above the power
lines, or buy a new rural lot - neither of which is workable at this
moment.