Hi, Rick Well, 14 ga stranded wire should be fine for radials - although you might want to pre-stretch it.
I have occasionally used smaller gauge wire - 16 gauge or even 18 gauge stranded with black PVC insulation for lower visibility. Regards, Charlie, K4OTV -----Original Message----- From: Topband [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rick Kiessig Sent: Friday, December 14, 2012 9:30 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Topband: Optimal radial wire type and gauge? The recent talk about optimizing the number of radials has me wondering about the optimal type and gauge for radial wire. I've been using #14 stranded, insulated copper, but for no reason other than it's readily available in 500 ft spools at a decent price. With the cost of copper being so high these days, is there a better choice? If so, how do we know it's really better? And is there an easy way to trade off cost vs. effectiveness? I can't use mesh at my QTH, so I need to stay with actual wire. 73, Rick ZL2HAM _______________________________________________ Topband reflector - [email protected] _______________________________________________ Topband reflector - [email protected]
