[ADXA] Question on antenna wire

[Dennis Schaefer]

I have vinyl coated wire on my dipoles and have never had a problem with ice but we very seldom get accumulating ice here.  Also, one of them is fed with ladderline so since it’s not resonant, I probably wouldn’t notice changes in SWR anyway.

You would have to adjust the dimensions for bare wire.  Some say the difference is 5% but I don’t think it is usually that drastic.  However, on a parasitic antenna, it would definitely make a difference in SWR and pattern if you used the same dimensions for bare wire and insulated wire..

73,
Dennis

> On Mar 15, 2021, at 10:11 AM, sbranyan at cox.net wrote:
> 
> 
> The Hex Beam instructions I am looking at suggest using vinyl coated wire.
>  
> I've noticed through the winter the PAR EFHW antenna I put up, which has vinyl coated wire, tends to collect rain droplets and frozen precip much easier, and it really sticks to the coating, raising the SWR on the antenna when it happens. Haven't really noticed it as being much of an issue on the G5RV non-coated wire, and if it is, a simple shake of the wire gets rid of the droplets and snow/ice for the most part.
>  
> So should I use vinyl or non-vinyl coating on the Heax Beam wire? Don't know if there are any other performance +/- issues to the coating.
>  
> Thanks and 73,
> Scott/W5AAJ
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