[Antennas] Amp Rating

[Dave]

Tim

There is not a simple answer to your question as it depends to some degree 
on the environment that the wire is in and what frequency you are talking 
about.

Here are some factual data points from the "ITT Reference Data for Radio 
Engineers" the figures quoted are more for 60 Hz AC or DC currents.

The "fusing currents" for a piece of 20 Guage wire is a staggering 58 amps!

The DC resistance of #20 copper wire is on the order of 10 ohms /1000 feet. 
so your 4" piece would have a resistance of approximately .003 ohms. At 10 
amps/DC it would only dissipate .3 watts with a voltage drop of .03 volts 
and so on

Since this is an antenna forum however the answer gets much more 
complicated at RF frequencies. At HF frequencies and power levels my 
practical guess is that a 4 inch piece of 20 guage could probably handle a 
full KW without serious damage. Would I use it in  high Q circuit  handling 
a lot of power? not as a matter of practice ...but in a pinch sure.


At 12:42 PM 6/25/02 -0500, Tim Billingsley wrote:
>This is something I should have laying around here in some manual or the
>Handbook or something but have not found it yet.
>
>What amp rating would a 4 inch piece of solid 20 ga copper wire have?
>
>Tim Billingsley KD5CKP
>http://www.qsl.net/kd5ckp/start.htm
>
>- - -
>
>Your moderator for this list is:
>Larry Wilson KE1HZ antennas-owner@mailman.qth.net
>_______________________________________________
>Antennas mailing list
>Antennas@mailman.qth.net
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/antennas

Dave
NR1DX
nr1dx@arrl.net

"A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns a lesson he can learn no other 
way" .... Mark Twain