I've got a couple of (transmitting) loops up (around 500' and another of 900+'),
which are made with conventional stranded 12 gauge, THHN insulated wire. The
only drawback is that THHN is covered with a clear plastic coating that has a
tendency to suffer from ultraviolet degradation and can shed (sort of like a
snake shedding it's skin) after a few years in the air. It does leave the
colored plastic insulation still in place (black in my case) even if it sheds the
clear coating. It doesn't affect the performance of the antenna for either
transmitting or receiving, and the insulation has the added benefit of helping if
you have to thread the antenna through a tree or two along the way.

If you are going for a really long wire with supports at the extreme ends, than
copperweld is the way to go if you don't need to thread through trees. It's a
steel wire with a copper cladding, and is very stiff and strong. It can be a
bear to put up because you have to take more care with unrolling it to prevent
kinking, but it is very strong and works great on really long runs. However, if
you thread through trees, and/or have supports at decent intervals (my longest
unsupported run is about 280') then 12 gauge stranded house wiring (THHN) is
readily available, flexible and best of all, pretty inexpensive.

I'd put up what I have, and worry about replacement down the road. The
satisfaction of using an antenna now, far outweighs waiting for "better" wire at
some later date.

Good Luck
--Rick AH7H


GO BEARCATS wrote:

does the majority of the group 'advise' to use to make up some longires or
dipoles? I've had forever #12 gauge because I had/have three spools of
500ft.on each spool.

Got it like a year and a half ago at closeout, and I mean 'closeout' -they
should've just gave it to me.;-)

Or would #12 AWG Gauge insulated be better for ground, so what would you use
that gauge wire for and what would you prefer for #1antenna and #2ground.

:-)

~^Monitoring The Spectrum^~
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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