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^~
Hammarlund HQ129X /Heathkit Q Multiplier
Hammarlund HQ140X
Multiple GE P-780's(GREAT BCB Radios)
RCA Victor *Strato- World*
RCA Victor RJC77W-K(Walnut Grain)
1942 Zenith Wave Magnet 6G 601M
Cathedral/ Ross#2311/Rhapsody-MultiBand
DX100/394/*SUPER*398/399/402
OMGS Transistor Eight/Realistic 12-1451
Henry Kloss Model One/Bell+HowellSW
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Alpha Delta DX Sloper 57ft.
500ft. 12AWG. (non-terminated)
120ft. 12 AWG Long-Wire
2 Radio Shack Loop Antennas
Radio Shack Amplified Antenna
30X30 DiamondLoop(six section 830pf Cap)
* Diamond Loop mounted to Lazy Susan TurnTable*
*21/2X2ft.FiveSpoked~Penta-Loop~PancakeLoop*
~OptimusCTR-111Cassettte Recorder~
~Radio Shack 2Speed VOX#43-476~
~Ramsey Speech Scrambler~

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^~
Hammarlund HQ129X /Heathkit Q Multiplier
Hammarlund HQ140X
Multiple GE P-780's(GREAT BCB Radios)
RCA Victor *Strato- World*
RCA Victor RJC77W-K(Walnut Grain)
1942 Zenith Wave Magnet 6G 601M
Cathedral/ Ross#2311/Rhapsody-MultiBand
DX100/394/*SUPER*398/399/402
OMGS Transistor Eight/Realistic 12-1451
Henry Kloss Model One/Bell+HowellSW
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Alpha Delta DX Sloper 57ft.
500ft. 12AWG. (non-terminated)
120ft. 12 AWG Long-Wire
2 Radio Shack Loop Antennas
Radio Shack Amplified Antenna
30X30 DiamondLoop(six section 830pf Cap)
* Diamond Loop mounted to Lazy Susan TurnTable*
*21/2X2ft.FiveSpoked~Penta-Loop~PancakeLoop*
~OptimusCTR-111Cassettte Recorder~
~Radio Shack 2Speed VOX#43-476~
~Ramsey Speech Scrambler~

Use whatever wire won't break / fall down from inclement weather.

suggest several antennas; one 30 - 60 feet long
and another beverage; the longer the better, for very faint signals

Dan / NYC


In article , (GO
BEARCATS) writes:

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.

:-)

Diverd4777 wrote:

Use whatever wire won't break / fall down from inclement weather.

suggest several antennas; one 30 - 60 feet long
and another beverage; the longer the better, for very faint signals

Oriented in the proper direction, of course.

Use whatever wire won't break / fall down from inclement weather.

suggest several antennas; one 30 - 60 feet long
and another beverage; the longer the better, for very faint signals

Gee Dan, like I didn't know that. ;-P


~^Monitoring The Spectrum^~
Hammarlund HQ129X /Heathkit Q Multiplier
Hammarlund HQ140X
Multiple GE P-780's(GREAT BCB Radios)
RCA Victor *Strato- World*
RCA Victor RJC77W-K(Walnut Grain)
1942 Zenith Wave Magnet 6G 601M
Cathedral/ Ross#2311/Rhapsody-MultiBand
DX100/*SUPER-DELUXE DRIVEN*394/*Modded*398/399/402
OMGS Transistor Eight/Realistic 12-1451
Henry Kloss Model One/Bell+HowellSW
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Alpha Delta DX Sloper 57ft.
500ft. 12AWG. (non-terminated)
120ft. 12 AWG Long-Wire
2 Radio Shack Loop Antennas
Radio Shack Amplified Antenna
30X30 DiamondLoop(six section 830pf Cap)
* Diamond Loop mounted to Lazy Susan TurnTable*
*21/2X2ft.FiveSpoked~Penta-Loop~PancakeLoop*
~OptimusCTR-111Cassettte Recorder~
~Radio Shack 2Speed VOX#43-476~
~Ramsey Speech Scrambler~

Whatever you have on hand (IMHO) that can do the job is generally better than

what's on the store shelf.

sigh Everything but the answer...lol....wouldn't "what you had on hand" have
had to come off the store shelf at one time or another?

Unles you're a thief and stole it, but it was 'still' on the shelf. {?}

I'll ask my ham friend, I try an avoid asking him questions though. That's why
I ask here.
He's wanting me to just 'give' him a spool of it....lol.


~^Monitoring The Spectrum^~
Hammarlund HQ129X /Heathkit Q Multiplier
Hammarlund HQ140X
Multiple GE P-780's(GREAT BCB Radios)
RCA Victor *Strato- World*
RCA Victor RJC77W-K(Walnut Grain)
1942 Zenith Wave Magnet 6G 601M
Cathedral/ Ross#2311/Rhapsody-MultiBand
DX100/*SUPER-DELUXE DRIVEN*394/*Modded*398/399/402
OMGS Transistor Eight/Realistic 12-1451
Henry Kloss Model One/Bell+HowellSW
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Alpha Delta DX Sloper 57ft.
500ft. 12AWG. (non-terminated)
120ft. 12 AWG Long-Wire
2 Radio Shack Loop Antennas
Radio Shack Amplified Antenna
30X30 DiamondLoop(six section 830pf Cap)
* Diamond Loop mounted to Lazy Susan TurnTable*
*21/2X2ft.FiveSpoked~Penta-Loop~PancakeLoop*
~OptimusCTR-111Cassettte Recorder~
~Radio Shack 2Speed VOX#43-476~
~Ramsey Speech Scrambler~

In other words, what you have on hand (that you have already acquired)
will most likely do you just as much good as going to a store and paying


************rest snipped***********
No JD,
It was just a question. I was just curious. No big deal. Thread closed.

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.

Thats fine. You'll hardly ever break that stuff...Most of my dipoles are
#12 house wire, but some are #14 house wire. I've gotten to where I
prefer #14, cuz it's lighter, and still very strong. It's cheaper too..I
had a large iced up tree branch fall on a dipole leg made from #12 a few
years ago..It didn't break the wire. It bent the top section of the mast
over instead. That will tell you how strong it is..

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

Can't beat that deal...500 ft of #12 was like maybe $34?? or so last I
looked at home depot, which has been a while...

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.

I don't use a ground to the shack, but if I did, flat copper strap is
the best. Depends on the purpose of the ground also...Flat wide copper
strap is best for lightning grounding. For wire, I'd say the thicker,
the better. You want lots of surface area. All rf flows on the surface
of the wire. "skin effect" And lightning is mainly rf. The bulk of it
about 1-2 mhz, from what I hear. Most recommend a min of #6 wire for
lightning use...What you have is fine just to simply ground a radio...
I've made antennas from nearly every kind of wire, at one time or the
other...Many portable dipoles I made just from junk scraps all tied
together...I've even made dipoles using old junky coax..Anything will
work, as long as you don't use some kind of wire that is overly
resistive as far as rf. MK
--
http://web.wt.net/~nm5k

Can't beat that deal...500 ft of #12 was like maybe $34?? or so last I
looked at home depot, which has been a while...

wasn't gonna reply, but seeing how it is the 'Loop Master' ;-) $34?!?! You'll
swear I'm lying or embellishing.

I KNOW it was something like ......I know it was 'under' $10.00 a spool of
500ft. of wire, something $7.** sounds right.

I was with a friend and we saw that, there was four left and I grabbed three of
them, pretty heavy holding three spools of that. Should've got the fourth.

So, that 'was' a steal. :-)


~^Monitoring The Spectrum^~
Hammarlund HQ129X /Heathkit Q Multiplier
Hammarlund HQ140X
Multiple GE P-780's(GREAT BCB Radios)
RCA Victor *Strato- World*
RCA Victor RJC77W-K(Walnut Grain)
1942 Zenith Wave Magnet 6G 601M
Cathedral/ Ross#2311/Rhapsody-MultiBand
DX100/*SUPER-DELUXE Mod- DRIVEN*394/*Modded*398/399/402
OMGS Transistor Eight/Realistic 12-1451
Henry Kloss Model One/Bell+HowellSW
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Alpha Delta DX Sloper 57ft.
500ft. 12AWG. (non-terminated)
120ft. 12 AWG Long-Wire
2 Radio Shack Loop Antennas
Radio Shack Amplified Antenna
30X30 DiamondLoop(six section 830pf Cap)
* Diamond Loop mounted to Lazy Susan TurnTable*
*21/2X2ft.FiveSpoked~Penta-Loop~PancakeLoop*
~OptimusCTR-111Cassettte Recorder~
~Radio Shack 2Speed VOX#43-476~
~Ramsey Speech Scrambler~

I don't use a ground to the shack, but if I did, flat copper strap is
the best. Depends on the purpose of the ground also...

OK Mark, lets start with just for receiving, what gauge or just coax and strip
it and use that?

Then how about for txing? Same question.

Thanks Mark! I'm enjoying the loop right now and will later today for the WABC
'special'.:-)

~^Monitoring The Spectrum^~
Hammarlund HQ129X /Heathkit Q Multiplier
Hammarlund HQ140X
Multiple GE P-780's(GREAT BCB Radios)
RCA Victor *Strato- World*
RCA Victor RJC77W-K(Walnut Grain)
1942 Zenith Wave Magnet 6G 601M
Cathedral/ Ross#2311/Rhapsody-MultiBand
DX100/*SUPER-DELUXE Mod- DRIVEN*394/*Modded*398/399/402
OMGS Transistor Eight/Realistic 12-1451
Henry Kloss Model One/Bell+HowellSW
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Alpha Delta DX Sloper 57ft.
500ft. 12AWG. (non-terminated)
120ft. 12 AWG Long-Wire
2 Radio Shack Loop Antennas
Radio Shack Amplified Antenna
30X30 DiamondLoop(six section 830pf Cap)
* Diamond Loop mounted to Lazy Susan TurnTable*
*21/2X2ft.FiveSpoked~Penta-Loop~PancakeLoop*
~OptimusCTR-111Cassettte Recorder~
~Radio Shack 2Speed VOX#43-476~
~Ramsey Speech Scrambler~