Phillip, I agree with Ron. I used the Hard-drawn stranded copper from HRO. Made a dipole, 100ft per side, 450ohm ladderline. Had it up 3 years for 160 meters. No stretch in the wire. Measured when I took it down. Still wuthin 1/8 of an inch after 3 years....Also Universal Radio sells the Steel center/Copper clad by the foot. Great stuff.. Good Luck, Art W6KY K1-2 K1-4
Ron D'Eau Claire <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Sorry to hear that Phillip. Just about any wire is fine. Insulation makes no difference. Since you are subject to strong winds there, you might want to go with the stronger types of wire designed for antennas. You want to stay with something at least copper-clad. RF flows in the surface of the wire so the insides don't matter at all. Hard-drawn stranded copper is very common and sold by HRO and other outlets. Stronger yet is "copperweld", a single-strand steel wire jacketed with copper. It's very strong but kinks easily. It's like handling a giant slinky once you get it loose but not under tension. One kink is deadly; it drastically weakens the wire at that point. Be very careful as you pull the wire straight to make sure no loops turn into kinks. Are you stringing wire between trees or even a long span between solid supports? If so, you might want to consider some strain relief. When I lived where high winds blew, I secured one end of my antenna by running a rope from the end insulator over a pulley at the top of the support and down near the ground. There it looped through another pulley and was run back up several feet and tied off. To the "floating pulley near the ground I hooked a bucket with some rocks in it - enough to hold proper tension on the wire. When the wind blew, the antenna could sway and the bucket of rocks would move up and down. It had about 4 feet of travel, but I never saw my 150 foot wire move it more than a foot or two, even in 70 to 80 MPH gusts. If you do that, be sure the bucket has lots of holes in the bottom. A strong storm with lots of rain can fill it and make it too heavy or rust out the bottom over time so the rocks fall out! If you have a tree that sways, you might consider such a flexible attachment at each end, and make sure the feed line has enough give to it doesn't limit the travel. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Phil LaMarche Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 1:36 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Elecraft] Antenna Wire Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just passed. The wire broke in the wind. What should I purchase to replace what is lost? Thanks in advance. Philip LaMarche LaMarche Enterprises, Inc. www.instantgourmetspices.com 727-944-3226 (800) 395-7795 pin 02 Cell 727-510-5038 N.A.S.F.T # 30210 W9DVM -- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 7.0.262 / Virus Database: 264.8.0 - Release Date: 9/6/2004 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
