[Antennas] RE: length of random wire

[Robert Lay]

Dear Cory,

> Since it's difficult to keep my window secured if I use coax I used
speaker
> wire instead, but keep in mind my particular application is receive only.
I
> would definitely use coax if I intended to transmit.

Why?

I can't think of any good reason why coax is better than speaker wire. When
I put my very first dipole on the air in 1948 I was using a transmission
line material that was being sold as 72 ohm balanced line. It looked exactly
like what Radio Shack sells today as speaker wire. At about the same time, I
used ordinary zip cord, and it worked just as well. However, it doesn't last
long in WX.

Granted, there will be a power handling limit, but if the SWR is kept within
a range that the transmitter can live with, you should be able to run up to
at least 300 w.

73 de Bob