[Boatanchors] Solder Kester 88

[Richard Knoppow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "rbethman" <rbethman at comcast.net>
To: <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 1:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Solder Kester 88


> First, I'm not hunting any.  I've got more Kester 44 
> around here than
> I'm likely to ever use.
>
> Second, I wouldn't bother with looking for and or buying 
> the 88.  I have
> found that hobby shops have a solder that uses a propane 
> or butane flame
> with its own liquid flux.
>
> I've been using one package for over 10 years.  I can 
> solder 1/4" hard
> drawn copper to 3/4" diameter Copperweld ground rods with 
> no problem.
>
> I've also been using it to solder to long ago obtained #12 
> Copperweld
> antenna wire that I got an entire roll of from Army MARS 
> in 1982.  The
> roll was heavy enough that it took the driver of the 
> Yellow Freight
> truck and myself to take it off the truck and to the front 
> step.
>
> I'm still making dipoles and the like from it.
>
> Bob - N0DGN

     This brings up something I find curious. The local ham 
store (HRO) seems to think that stranded wire is the right 
stuff to make antennas out of. I tried to tell them that it 
oxidized lots faster than copperweld but was told that 
copperweld was "brittle" and broke. When did the classic 
wisdom about antenna wire change? AFAIK the whole idea of 
copperweld is that it is very strong and, if coated with the 
right lacquer, is pretty resistant to oxidation.
     This goes along with the "trivia" answers on QRZ.com, 
many are plain wrong and no one seems to edit them.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com